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Further investigation of the crime site would have to wait until I was certain of solitude. At this point, it didn’t really matter – it was obvious where I had to go next.

The only reason I’d been at St Erbin’s Church was because Tony had lured me there. Then he’d failed to show up. It didn’t take a detective to know that he was suspect numero uno – a child would have sussed that. I might not want to believe that he’d killed me, but I wasn’t na?ve enough to think that the police were all shining heroes. Corruption existed everywhere.

The only thing that gave me pause was lack of motive. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of any reason why the old detective would want me dead. One minor werewolf fuck-up wasn’t sufficient reason for murder. Still, I knew I’d learn a great deal from the expression on his face when I walked in through the door of Supernatural Squad. It was quite possible that I’d solve my own death within the next ten minutes.

I was also aware that I should be careful. Tony might well try to attack me again. At this time of day, though, both Liza and Fred would also be in the building. It wasn’t remotely credible that all three of them could be involved.

I furled and unfurled my fists as I ran through various scenarios in my head. Whatever happened next, I was ready for it.

I strode into the Supernatural Squad building, marched down the corridor and burst into the main room on the ground floor. Liza glanced up with nothing more than vague interest; Fred didn’t bother removing his eyes from the television screen.

‘Where’s Tony?’ I demanded.

‘He’s not come in today,’ Liza said. ‘I thought he was out with you.’

I stared at her. She didn’t look anything more than mildly surprised to see me – and neither did she look like she was lying about Tony.

‘Fred, have you seen Tony today?’ I demanded.

He barely stirred. ‘Nope.’

I stalked forward until I was standing between the sofa and the television. With considerable reluctance, Fred met my eyes.

‘I have not seen him,’ he said, enunciating every word. He sighed. ‘Look, I know you’re full of enthusiasm and excitement, and you want to do great things, but this,’ he flicked his hand around the room, ‘this is what life is like in Supernatural Squad. You should enjoy the peace and quiet while you can.’

I stayed exactly where I was. ‘Have you phoned Tony to see where he is?’

With what appeared to be a great effort, he pushed himself up to a sitting position. ‘A woman was killed last night at St Erbin’s Church,’ he said. ‘A Jane Doe. He’s probably over at CID right now, arguing why we should get the case. He’ll lose.’

I couldn’t stop myself. ‘You don’t care that some poor person was killed right on the edge of our territory?’

For the first time I saw a flicker of emotion on Fred’s face. ‘Of course I care. But if it was a supe that did it, then the supes themselves will find the perp and deal with him – or her. If it was a human, CID will take the case from us. There’s nothing for us to do. There never is.’

I ground my teeth together and counted to ten. ‘I’ve lost my phone,’ I said. ‘Is there a landline I can use?’

Liza shrugged. ‘Over on that desk. Your temporary Supe Squad warrant card is there as well. It arrived this morning.’

I nodded my thanks. She dropped her gaze back to her magazine and Fred slumped back into the sofa. So much for London’s finest.

I found the phone under a pile of papers on the desk near the window and picked up the warrant card. The number was the same one I’d been given when I entered the Academy, but the symbol was different: the card was emblazoned with a small red crucifix on the bottom and a silver crown at the top. The card still had ‘Trainee’ stamped across it in big red letters. So much, so different. I slipped it into my pocket. At least I now had some form of ID.

I tapped my mouth thoughtfully, picked up the receiver and dialled my own number on the bizarre off-chance that my murderer would answer. It didn’t take long to hear the click that told me my phone was turned off. Oh well – it had been a long shot. I glanced at the helpful list of numbers taped to the desk. It was time to get creative and call someone else.

‘Hi,’ I said into the receiver, as soon as the operator answered. ‘I’m looking for one of your detective trainees, Molly Brigant. I need to speak to her urgently.’

‘Who is calling?’

I glanced over at Liza’s name tag. ‘Liza Faulkner at Supe Squad.’

Liza’s head snapped up and she frowned. I gave her a vague smile.

‘One moment please.’

‘What are you doing?’ Liza hissed.

I covered the mouthpiece with my hand. ‘I told you,’ I said. ‘I’ve lost my phone. I need to speak to my friend as soon as possible, and using your name seems the best way to go about it. It’ll be fine.’

‘Why don’t you use your own damned name?’

Because at least one person believes that I’m dead and, right now, I don’t want to dissuade them from that belief.

‘You’re more likely to be put through,’ I told her.

The expression on Liza’s face put me in mind of sour milk. Fortunately, I didn’t have to continue explaining myself because Molly came on the line. ‘Hello?’ she said uncertainly.

I breathed out. Praise be. ‘Molly, it’s me.’

‘Emma? What on earth are you doing calling me? I was told it was someone else.’

‘I’ve lost my phone. Long story. Look, I need to ask you a favour. It’s important.’

‘Go on,’ she said, confused.

‘A woman was killed at St Erbin’s Church last night. It’s just on the edge of Soho. I need you to find out whether CID has been tasked with the investigation, and what details they already have on the murder. In particular, if there are any suspects. I know you’re busy, but I wouldn’t ask if I had any choice.’

Molly let out a short laugh. ‘Right now I’m reading a manual on search and seizure regulations. I could do with the distraction. I’ll nose around. Let me see what I can find out and I’ll get back to you.’

‘Thank you so much.’ I read off the Supe Squad number and she noted it down.

‘Anyway, how are things with you, Ems? You sound different. Is Supernatural Squad really all that horrific?’

‘Honestly, Molly? I couldn’t even begin to explain. Don’t tell anyone you’ve spoken to me.’

‘What? Why?’

I couldn’t give her a quick answer, so I played chicken and pretended I’d not heard her before I mumbled a farewell and hung up.

‘We won’t get the case,’ Fred said. ‘There’s no point looking into it.’

‘It won’t do any harm.’ I wrinkled my nose. ‘What’s Tony’s number?’

‘Are you going to call him and pretend to be me again?’ Liza asked. The corners of her mouth turned down disapprovingly.

No, I didn’t want him to know I was in the office. ‘Why don’t you call him? Find out where he is.’ I paused. ‘And don’t tell him I’m here.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘What exactly is going on?’

‘Please, Liza?’

She watched me for a moment. ‘You’re very strange.’

I couldn’t disagree. ‘Will you call him?’ I persisted.

She threw up her hands. ‘Alright.’ She reached for her mobile, fiddled with it for a moment then held it to her ear. ‘His phone’s turned off. It’s not ringing.’

I swallowed. ‘Is that normal?’

‘No.’ She jabbed another set of numbers and tried again. ‘He’s not picking up his home phone either.’ She looked at me. ‘What aren’t you telling us?’

‘Nothing. Do you have his address? If he doesn’t show up, I’ll nip round to his house and see if he’s there. Maybe he’s just not picking up the phone – although he’s probably at CID, like Fred said. The thing is, I’ve got some paperwork that needs signing off.’

It was clear that Liza didn’t believe me. ‘You seem like a nice person, Emma, and I’m sure if Tony were here, he wouldn’t mind you knowing where he lives. But until he tells me otherwise, I don’t feel comfortable passing information on. I can give you his mobile number if you want to call it again later. He might pick up in an hour or two.’

She was loyal; that was a tick in both Liza and Tony’s favour. It didn’t particularly help my cause, but I knew that I couldn’t argue with her.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I’ll take his number for now and wait here until he puts in an appearance.’ I gave her a brief smile to show there were no hard feelings.

Liza scribbled it down on a scrap of paper. ‘Is this his only mobile?’ I asked.

Fred shrugged. Liza pursed her lips. ‘He probably has another phone. We’re supposed to have separate ones for work and home. But I don’t know what the other number is.’

I rubbed my arms. Without my own phone to compare the records, I couldn’t tell if this number matched the one on the text message that had lured me to the graveyard. It wasn’t like I possessed a photographic memory, more’s the pity. Had Tony taken my phone after the attack so that it looked like I’d been mugged – and so he could also delete his text?

‘What’s going on, Emma?’ Liza folded her arms and frowned at me.

I avoided her gaze. I had to come up with something to explain my odd behaviour and my obvious anxiety to them. I certainly couldn’t tell them the truth – I barely believed it myself – but I had to give them something.

‘The reason I’ve been sent here on rotation is because I fucked up. This is my last chance to make things right or I’ll be out on my ear and I’ll never make detective.’

Even Fred perked up at that.

‘I think I’m onto something that will turn my fortunes around,’ I continued. ‘In fact, it’ll turn all of our fortunes around.’ My murder was probably enough to get Supe Squad shut down for good, so in that sense I wasn’t lying. ‘But I don’t want anyone to know what I’m up to. So if anyone comes looking for me, no matter who they are, can you tell them you’ve not seen me? I know it’s a big ask and that—’

‘Yeah,’ Fred said. ‘No problem.’

Liza pursed her lips but then she nodded. I must have looked surprised because she explained, ‘We’ve been where you are. If this is what you need, Emma, we’ll do our best. I didn’t give you Tony’s address out of respect for him. I can extend the same courtesy to you and stay mum on your behalf too. You should know that the only people who’ve escaped Supe Squad in the past have either died or retired – but hope springs eternal.’ She gave me a meaningful look. ‘Sooner or later, you’ll need to tell us what’s really happening. We don’t know you well enough to trust you completely.’

‘I’ll tell you everything as soon as I can. I promise.’ I lifted the receiver to make one last call. I knew this number by heart, and I also knew that at this time of day it would go straight to voicemail. Big brave policewoman, that was me.

‘Hi, Jeremy. I’m going to be away for a couple of days for a work thing. I’ll be too busy to get in touch and I’ve lost my phone, so don’t call. Look after yourself and don’t eat too much junk food. Big kisses.’ I put down the receiver.

Liza was watching me. ‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ she said.

I smiled confidently.

I didn’t have a fucking clue.

***

Tony declined to show up. As I waited, my tension grew with every passing minute. To pass the time, I Googled ‘resurrection’ and ‘supes’, and searched the police database for any similar attacks on women. I came up short on every front.

I checked my pulse every twenty minutes or so, and every time it was still there. Liza caught me on more than one occasion but, while her eyes clouded with deepening suspicion, she didn’t utter a peep.

We were only interrupted once, when an American tourist who’d lost his wallet dropped by to see if it had been handed in. Unsurprisingly, it hadn’t been. As the bloke with the twang from the Southern states wouldn’t give Fred any more information to go on about where he’d last seen it, there was little we could do.

‘He was probably in one of the vamp strip joints,’ Liza said disdainfully.

‘There are vamp strip joints?’

She raised her eyebrows in a particularly patronising fashion. I couldn’t blame her; I was starting to feel that up till now I’d led a very sheltered life.

‘There are very few real vampires in them,’ she told me. ‘Most of the strippers are human women hoping to catch some highly placed vampire’s eye and get themselves turned. Not that you’d catch someone like Lord Horvath frequenting such an establishment.’

I had a sudden image of the head of the vampires as a stern old bloke with a grey moustache and a neatly trimmed beard who would never demean himself by lolling around a bar, let alone one filled with near-naked women.

‘Yeah,’ Fred agreed. ‘The last thing he needs is to go trolling for birds.’ Birds?

‘Sorry,’ he continued, seeing my expression. ‘Women.’

‘Is that because he’s already in a committed relationship?’ I asked.

He barked a laugh. ‘No! Because he’s got women of all ages and types throwing themselves at him all day long. The man’s virtually got his own harem.’

Oh. That made more sense.

‘The vamps are all about fun,’ Fred said. ‘And the wolves are all about seriousness and stiff upper lips.’ There was a wistful note to his tone. I cast him a sidelong glance and wondered if he had a hankering to be turned. I thought he seemed far too lethargic to fit in with either group.

‘How old is Lord Horvath?’

‘About seventy, give or take. And no,’ Liza continued, before I could ask my next question, ‘he’s not immortal. Vamps live for longer than we do, but they can’t avoid the circle of life forever. Their lifespan is about double ours.’

‘What about the wolves? How long do they live?’

Her brow creased. ‘It’s difficult to say. Best guess is about the same as us. But due to accidents,’ she drew quotation marks in the air, ‘when they’re in animal form, the wolves’ average life expectancy tends to be lower.’

‘Do they ever come here? Any of them?’

‘No. I doubt it would occur to a supe to drop by. The biggest groups – both vamps and werewolves – think that we’re too weak, too stupid and too sentimental to be bothered with. Both of them turn humans when they need to boost their numbers, but they’re very picky about who they take on. That,’ she conceded, ‘and the fact that their numbers were capped by the government at the turn of last century.’

I dredged up what I could remember from my history classes. ‘The 1901 Limiting Act?’

Liza snapped her fingers. ‘That’s the one. It’s next to impossible to be turned into a supe by accident either. There are a lot of rules around bites and a lot of safeguards in place to prevent mistakes from being made.’

I picked up a pen from the desk and twirled it. Casual, Emma, I told myself. Act casual. ‘Tell me more about the other supes. Are any of them immortal? Or, uh, undead?’

Fred blinked. ‘Undead? What, you mean like zombies?’

I managed a weak laugh.

‘Or like ghosts?’

I did my best to look uninterested. ‘It was just a thought.’

‘You’ve been reading too many horror stories,’ Liza said. ‘Believe me, things are shitty enough around here as it is without dead supes walking around.’ She paused and looked at me. ‘Why? What have you heard?’

I was saved from answering by the ring of the telephone. Picking up the receiver, I was relieved to hear Molly’s warm, familiar voice.

‘Alright,’ she said briskly, ‘I haven’t been able to find out a huge amount. The DC in charge of the investigation has several other cases on the go, and apparently there’s a delay on Jane Doe’s post-mortem, which is holding everything up.’

I sent out a brief prayer of gratitude to Laura. ‘No leads then?’

‘Not so far.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I get the impression that the folks around here are inclined to let it go because of the location of the murder.’

I sucked in a breath. ‘Let it go? She was a person, Molly. Just because she died near the supes’ areas shouldn’t mean that she’s forgotten!’

‘Whoa, Emma. I agree with you but it’s hardly my call. Once she’s identified, I’m sure more will be done.’

Except by that point, any trail would be cold. A trickle of doubt ran through me. Was I shooting myself in the foot by not coming clean? What if all this smoke and mirrors malarkey meant that my murderer got away scot-free?

I took a breath and reminded myself that none of this was Molly’s fault. I had to stay focused. ‘Do you know if DC Anthony Brown from Supe Squad has been in to check on progress?’ I asked.

‘Yes.’

I straightened up. ‘Is he there now?’ I demanded.

‘Sorry, Emma. I mean yes, I do know if he’s been in and no, he hasn’t. Everyone here has been waiting for him to show up and cause problems – supposedly that’s what he always does when there’s a crime related to his turf. But there’s been no sign of him yet.’

Was that because I’d somehow scratched him during the attack? Maybe he was hiding until his wounds healed. Or was it because something terrible had happened to him, too.

‘The general consensus,’ Molly continued, ‘is that Tony Brown is a pain in the arse. I heard he was sent to Supes for attacking a superior officer. What’s he been like with you?’

I barely heard the question. All I could think about was that Tony had a history of violence. I’d not provoked him – but maybe he hadn’t needed to be provoked.

I shook off my doubts. He was definitely the most likely suspect. Regardless of motive, there was no point hearing hooves and then expecting zebras. Tony was the one who’d lured me to St Erbin’s; Tony was surely my killer.

‘Jeremy has been texting me, you know,’ Molly said, changing the subject abruptly. ‘He wants to know what’s happening with you.’

I stiffened and focused back on the conversation. ‘What did you tell him?’

‘Nothing yet. What the hell is going on, Emma? I thought you two were tight.’

‘We were!’ I protested. ‘I mean we are. I just …’ Shit. ‘I just have a lot on my plate at the moment, and he doesn’t understand how important this training is to me.’

‘It’s only going to get worse after we graduate.’

I grimaced. If I graduated. I wouldn’t bank on any certainties any more. ‘Yeah.’

‘You’re too good for him,’ Molly said. ‘He knows he’s punching above his weight.’

I rolled my eyes. As if. Job aside, I was the most ordinary person in the world, whilst Jeremy possessed the sort of blond, white-teethed, wholesome good looks that many women went for. ‘Hardly.’

‘Whatever you say.’ She said it good-naturedly, but I couldn’t stop myself feeling a twinge. If I couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened to me, then Jeremy certainly couldn’t. And I couldn’t risk the possibility that he’d also become a target. I had to find Tony and speak to him. And quite possibly arrest him. Then I’d deal with the fall-out with Jeremy.

‘Thanks for calling, Molly,’ I told her. ‘And thanks for finding out that info for me. If Jeremy bothers you again, tell him that I’m busy working. And if you hear anything else to do with Jane Doe…’

‘I’ll keep you posted.’ She hesitated. ‘Stay safe, Emma.’

I swallowed. ‘I will.’