2 #3
The police found one spent cartridge next to the body along with five other cartridges that matched a box of ammo found in the man’s car.
Despite everyone swearing that no one had gone near the man, the police never found the gun.
Beth wondered if there was anything else she should ask these women. “Could I see the gun?”
A silence before Frost said, “This way.” He led her to a darkened arch and stepped through.
Beth hesitated and turned back to look at the women. “Thank you for assisting in our inquiries.”
They didn’t reply, so she walked through the archway. She expected to find a dark place. Instead, she stopped and blinked at the sunlight filling the room.
The front part of the room was empty, much like the room overseen by the Ladies Three. Glass cases filled with a variety of weapons divided the room in half.
Beth approached the cases, alarmed by how much destruction could be wrought by the array of weapons that could be grabbed by a quick thief.
Except…The more she looked at the weapons, the more she realized they were a ghostly image that could be seen but not touched.
“Detective Fahey, this is Ethan Sharpe,” Frost said. “He runs the armory and is the caretaker of the weapons and ammunition that come from Wyrd.”
Beth glanced at the man. Like the women, she couldn’t quite bring his features into focus, so she focused on the weapons. “This is like a history lesson in violence. Some of these weapons look like they were made centuries ago.”
“Some of them were,” Sharpe replied.
“The detective would like to see the gun that returned recently,” Frost said.
Sharpe slid open a wooden door on the back of one of the cases and reached for a six-shooter—a gun that seemed more appropriate for an Old West shoot-out than a modern-day killing.
Beth expected his hand to go through the ghostly image, but as Sharpe’s hand closed around the weapon, it took on substance, took on weight. Became real. Removing the gun, he placed it on a mat and looked at Beth.
She reached for it, wanting confirmation of the reality of what she’d just seen. Then she remembered what it cost Palowski and jerked her hand away.
“She is a detective and works with Captain Forrester,” Frost said. “This is an inquiry into a death.”
Something about the way the words were spoken made Beth think that much more was being said.
“Ah,” Sharpe replied. “Police. In that case, you may examine the weapon in this room without cost.”
“Thank you.” Beth picked up the revolver and opened the cylinder, checking to make sure the chambers were empty. Then she examined the weapon. Nothing wrong with the sights, no reason Palowski’s victims weren’t killed when he fired.
Except it wasn’t their time, according to the women in the other room. The outcome of a bargain made here wasn’t determined, then; only the cost to the person using the weapon was set.
Beth placed the gun on the mat. “Thank you for allowing me to examine the weapon.”
Sharpe put the gun back in the case. As he closed the sliding door, Beth watched a tangible weapon become a ghostly image again.
Frost led her to a darkened archway at the front of the room and stepped through. This time Beth hesitated only a moment before following him.
They were back in the pavilion’s wide central area. She looked at the dark archway.
“One way, like many things in Wyrd,” Frost said. “A person can’t reach the armory without seeing the Ladies Three first.”
Beth nodded, not sure what else she should ask—or wanted to know.
“This way.” Frost headed toward the end of the pavilion, where the archway leading outdoors revealed a statue rising from a large ornamental lake.
“I should—”
“Come this way.” A command.
Beth followed Frost, not sure what to expect.
“You have some time to look around Destiny Park before the ferry makes the next crossing to your side of the river,” Frost said. “If you heed the warnings, you should come to no harm.”
What warnings? With her eyes on the statue, Beth took a step forward. Suddenly her focus readjusted, forcing her to look at two signs that blended into the area between the pavilion and the lake so well she hadn’t seen them.
Or had they appeared because she had crossed some invisible line?
Destiny Park
Be Careful of Your Thoughts, Your Words, and Your Intentions.
Moon gates only go one way. Do not go through a gate without supervision.
“What does that mean?” Beth asked.
“Exactly what it says,” Frost replied. “Since Captain Forrester expects you to return to the police station, don’t walk through a moon gate, even if it’s open. You might not find your way back—or, depending on the gate, you might not recognize yourself if you do manage to return.”
“I walked through the gate when I first arrived.”
“With supervision.” Frost paused. “I’ll meet you here in an hour and escort you to the ferry.”
Finding her way back to the dock and the ferry should be easy enough. Then again…“Thank you.”
Frost turned and walked into the pavilion.
Beth followed a path around the ornamental lake. As she came abreast of the statue, she glanced at it and had a dizzying moment when her eyes wouldn’t focus. When she thought she saw something else—something darker and dangerous.
The moment was gone, and the lovely woman with feathered wings once more stood on a pedestal in an ornamental lake.
The place smelled earthy and rich. There were mulch or gravel lines of demarcation between different areas of plants, but it still felt less like a conscious design, more like something formed by nature.
After checking her watch to make sure she had time, Beth chose a path that led away from the lake.
Cultivated flower beds and small meadows still full of wildflowers.
The coolness of autumn as she passed beneath trees shading the path.
And sculptures. Not statues placed to be a point of interest, although those were there too.
She passed a bearded man resting on one knee, looking down at her from his perch on the stone that he had sprung from.
Not a benign face; not hostile either. Watchful. Considering.
Hearing shouts and laughter and that particular kind of taunting that sometimes occurred between male friends, she hurried down the path and spotted the two young men who had been on the ferry with her.
Friendly pushy-shovey? Or something more?
As she stepped out of the shadows under the trees, they spotted her. She didn’t think they were predators in the truest sense, but there were two of them and they might have liked their odds for harassing a female on her own.
Then they spotted something else in the shadow of the trees and hurried away.
Beth stepped forward but saw nothing that would have alarmed two boys that age. But she felt something watching them. Watching her.
A glance at her watch had her moving quickly, retracing her steps back to the lake and the pavilion.
Should she let Lucas Frost know there were a couple of rowdy young men in the park who might be tempted to cause some trouble as a way to restore their bravado?
Or was the park’s security already aware of them?
Did the park have security?
And what could she tell Frost? That a couple of boys were being rowdy? There was no law against that. And yet…She didn’t have her service weapon, but she knew how to defend herself. Another woman, walking alone and thinking she was safe, might not have that experience.
When she spotted Frost, she lengthened her stride until she reached him. “It might be nothing, but I wondered if there was any security in the park?”
He studied her. “Why is that a concern?”
“It isn’t always safe for women to walk alone, so I—”
“Were you threatened?”
Something in his voice made her shiver. “No. Nothing happened. I just wondered.” She didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone.
“Would you have reported this nothing to Captain Forrester?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “No laws were broken. The two young men didn’t even approach me, but I feel concerned that other women walking alone in the park might be harassed—and I would have suggested to Captain Forrester that park security be made aware of potential problems.”
“It is not your place to interfere with someone else’s fate unless their fate is connected with yours,” Frost said.
I’m a cop. It’s my duty to interfere. Except she had a feeling they weren’t talking about quite the same kind of fate.
“Come. The ferry will start taking passengers in a few minutes.”
She waited until they were approaching the beach before asking, “That hotel is for visitors who want to stay overnight?”
“Yes,” Frost replied.
Maybe when she had a couple days off, she would make an overnight visit and spend some time in Destiny Park. She’d barely had a chance to see anything. She hadn’t seen any of the other moon gates, and she was curious about why they required supervision.
Just before she boarded the ferry, she turned to Frost. “Thank you for your assistance.” She reached into her pocket, then hesitated. “If I’m asked for a gold coin, would two silver coins be acceptable?”
Frost almost smiled. “Yes. They would have the same value. But your fee for the ferry is one silver coin.” A pause. “Hold on to the remaining coins. You’ll find them useful the next time you visit.”
Beth boarded the ferry, paid her silver coin, and found a seat inside.
Did Frost assume there would be more police inquiries in the future? Or did he sense that she was curious about the Isle of Wyrd and would come again for her own reasons?
Some commotion and a belligerent male voice had her half rising out of her seat. Then everything was quiet, and whatever had happened…
The ferry pulled away from the dock. The ride across the river was uneventful.
When she reached the other side and left the area around the pier, intending to hail a cab, Beth spotted the patrol car parked in a pickup and drop-off zone.
Jim Monkton and Benjamin Reynolds, the officers assigned to the special team, stood near the car.
Monkton raised a hand, so she headed toward them.
The two men studied her with an odd intensity before Reynolds said, “You okay?”
Puzzled, because it sounded like he’d expected her not to be okay, she replied, “I’m fine. I think I was given most of the information Captain Forrester needs.”
Reynolds opened the back door of the patrol car and waited for her to get inside and settled before he and Monkton got in the car and they drove to the station.
No chitchat, no small talk, no comments. She didn’t know these men well, so maybe that wasn’t unusual. Maybe they would have been the same way picking up anyone who had just come from Wyrd.
She didn’t know. But she did wonder what these officers had seen in the eyes of other detectives who had crossed the river that made them relieved to have the metal grill between them and her.