Chapter 5
FIVE
Sometimes, the lengths someone would go to hide their crimes astonished me.
The Diamond Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
In exchange for my signature and relevant employment information, Captain Andretti issued me a badge, which he promised to hold on to for me until I needed it, a card I could stick in my wallet that functioned similar to a badge and would verify my status as a detective, and my first check, which covered the bounty for having located the bodies in the Valley of Thorns.
“Is our ownership of that property going to be a problem?”
“Not at all, especially since Erik verified that you two had purchased the property before discovering the bodies. Three black dragons confirmed he spoke the truth on that, so it’s not an issue.
Now, there is the issue of the ghosts leading you to the place, but when ghosts want to be laid to rest and direct a cop and a private investigator to the site, the wise shut up about it.
That you two are hatchlings with strong nesting tendencies helps.
Any sensible hatchling with the available funds would snatch up that much land in a hurry.
Hell, if I didn’t already have a large chunk of land for raising my hatchlings, I would have considered the place just for the acres.
You got a nasty surprise, but since we’re going to have to rip the whole place out looking for evidence anyway, it works out. ”
That it did. “Assuming we can get all those spirits laid to rest.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.
Our first step is going to be identifying the bodies.
We’ll start with the skulls and teeth, as we’re most likely to get viable DNA from their teeth.
The bones are fresh enough we shouldn’t have many issues with their quality.
That’ll take time, but it always takes time.
I’m sure you’ll be able to identify some of the bodies for us. ”
“Some, I’m sure. It depends on what I see when handling the skulls.
I’ll do what I can.” I cringed at the thought of spending a few days in the morgue handling the deceased in the hope what I saw might be able to lead us to their identity and killer.
The killer part would be easy enough, as most, if not all, would be linked to Madam Merorie and her twisted quest to raise her child and husband from the dead.
“Do you have any leads on Merorie’s son? Particularly his body?”
“Unfortunately not. Worse, we got the authorization to exhume the body, and we’re confident she buried someone else’s child in his grave. The bones appear to belong to a girl. According to the funeral home, she had requested a closed casket ceremony.”
Sometimes, the lengths someone would go to hide their crimes astonished me. “She stole someone’s child and swapped her body for her son’s so everyone would think he was in there by weight.”
“That’s our current thought. It wouldn’t have taken much work for her to pull it off.
The private family viewing area has a window large enough to pass a body through, so all she would have needed to do was swap the bodies before the funeral, close the casket, and request it remain closed.
Back then, they didn’t have security footage in the private rooms. The leadership is passing a rule that all viewing areas of bodies, private or public, will have constant video surveillance to prevent something like this from happening again.
” The captain scowled, and he shook his head.
“Do you want to start with the present or past financials? Everything won’t fit in here. ”
“Past, please. I’m going to need a laptop, a tablet or notebook, and coffee.”
“We have a laptop and a tablet ready for your use, as we would rather not cut down entire forests appeasing your need to take notes.” With a chuckle, he went to the conference room door, opened it, and hollered for someone to fetch the oldest of the Merorie case financials before returning.
“Your official job title is Private Financial Investigator, by the way. If somebody looks at our employee records and digs, they’ll discover we have a full time detective in this position, but since we contract with several PIs who specialize in investigating financials, it’ll be difficult for people to figure out who the lucky employee is.
We aren’t required to publicly disclose our PIs unless it’s during a trial and it becomes relevant. ”
Interesting. “That’s more lax than in Miami.”
“Just wait until you see your firearm requirements. We’re strict.”
I liked the sound of that. “How many hours a week?”
“We require eight, but we count them as paid hours. Most tack on an hour before and after work four days a week to get their hours in. We supply the blanks, and most of our cops use their work firearms. You’ll receive an exemption to use your personal firearms for work.
I want you carrying your derringer at all times. ”
As Erik liked knowing I had protection at all times, I’d taken to carrying it loaded with a pepper spray round. “I carry non-lethal rounds for it. Pepper spray line.”
“Deterrent rounds are fine, though I’ll have you slip a few lethal rounds into your wallet for a sticky situation.”
I wouldn’t like it, but if my new boss wanted me to carry lethal rounds, I would. That I could keep the derringer loaded with a pepper spray payload would help with my worries of accidental discharge. “Got any marker rounds that will fit the derringer?”
“Not in stock, but I’ll have them ordered for you. I’ll also have rounds ordered for your official firearm. You’ll purchase the weapon personally, but you’ll be issued a bonus sufficient to cover its expense. I have a list of requirements.”
“The force here lets people pick their preference?”
The yellow dragon nodded. “We do. We’ve found a higher rate of accuracy among officers permitted to purchase their preferred brand of firearm within our requirements.
I’ll drop a comment to Erik that I’m going to authorize you to use the police range but you need to have an authorized firearm.
That will keep him from suspecting much.
Knowing him, he’ll be happy to foot the bill in exchange for range time. ”
I chuckled, as Erik had already indicated he wanted to work with me at the range, but he had to do his hours at the force’s private range. “Where is the private range?”
“It’s downstairs. Every station of sufficient size has at least six stalls in the basement.
Our station has twenty stalls. Starting tomorrow, I will be modifying Erik’s reservations to have two stalls so you can get your hours in, and you’ll be exempt from needing to meet firearm requirements for four weeks.
We do that for all new hires, as they spend the first four weeks taking private lessons during work hours.
You will be exempt from the lessons due to your past history, although you’re welcome to use our instructor. ”
“I’ll make use of the instructor for a refresher if you don’t mind.”
“Better safe than sorry is our motto here, so I don’t mind at all. I’ll make those arrangements the same time I modify Erik’s reservations and get you registered for range use.”
Several cops entered the conference room carrying filing boxes overflowing with paperwork. I sighed at the mess, suspecting they’d grabbed everything they could out of the madwoman’s mansion without much in the way of organization. “That does not look particularly organized to me.”
Captain Andretti snickered. “It’s really not. All we did was raid their filing room and do our best to organize it by age. I wish you the best of luck, Kinsley. You are going to need it.”
I waited for the captain and the other cops to leave before closing the door and allowing myself one frustrated wail before getting to work.
* * *
Sunday, May 17, 2167
The Sapphire Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
Per our plan to light a fire under the commissioner’s ass, Erik took me to the Sunday evening dinner at the Millson home in the Sapphire Ward.
As warned, most of the family was in attendance, requiring the use of their backyard and the dining room table to fit everybody.
My status as a guest secured me a spot wherever I wanted.
The backyard had the highest concentration of yellow dragons, most of whom were cops. As such, in a feat of strength and determination, everyone moved the dining room table outside so we could all eat together.
Garnet adored the insanity, and she convinced Citrine to leave Erik’s side to play. Tourmaline stayed close, and when he wasn’t sleeping in his nest, I held him, petted him, and reassured him.
Much like the carbunclo kittens, the hummingbird required a great deal of attention before he became comfortable enough to settle down and explore.
After what felt like an eternity but was closer to ten minutes, the hummingbird joined the kittens in an elaborate game of chase, which promised a quiet evening as our pets would be too tired to do anything other than sleep once we got home.
After thirty minutes of trying to learn the names of Erik’s siblings, I did the only thing a sensible but beleaguered hatchling could do: I fled to the family’s library, found a book, and hid between a row of shelves.
I had no idea how Erik’s mother remembered everyone’s names let alone survived so many younglings in one place, although she’d somehow gotten all of them alive to adulthood. During the introductions, I’d learned the real truth behind why the Millsons hadn’t added another clutch to their lives.
Erik had dodged death by a hair, and not only was he the youngest, he’d been an unusual case, conceived two full months after the rest of his clutch.
He’d spent the first month of his life in an infant ICU, clinging to fragile life.
His baby pictures served as a reminder that while generally safer than human pregnancies, not every egg in a clutch survived.