Page 7

Chapter Seven

I walked into work on Friday and heard the announcement: There’d been another sudden death at the courthouse during the night. It made me angry. It also made me forget about everything else.

I rode to the courthouse with Brannigan, seething.

He glanced at me. “You want to tell me ‘I told you so?’ Because that’s not going to go over well with Jossy. Get it out of your system now.”

“You think that I’m so petty that I need to say that in the face of murder? I’m just furious that this happened. Again. If they want to call it suicide, I’ll…”

“Go to the news? That’ll end well. You’re a cop, Sato. We have to deal with bureaucracy and red tape. Sad but true. At least now, you’ll probably get to investigate the murder. Maybe it’s a serial killer.”

I shook my head tightly, but I didn’t look at him. I was busy going through reports on my phone. “And that’s cause for celebration?” I shook my head and refocused on every document I’d already gone through during the last week on the judge’s death.

“It could just be a coincidence,” Brannigan said, pulling into the parking lot at the courthouse.

I didn’t bother responding to that. Instead, I took a deep breath and got ready to read auras. The crime scene was still being taped off, and the body wasn’t as pretty as the judge’s had been. More mess. Bigger caliber. And the victim? The state representative from Singsong’s district. The biggest difference between this ‘suicide’ and the other one, was that this one had a note.

The judge’s death leaves me feeling so guilty, I can’t live anymore. I ask forgiveness for my crimes against humanity.

~Phil

Phil’s handwriting was pretty steady, considering the stress he must have been under. Either someone had pointed a gun at him so he’d write the note, or he’d been wrought with anguish, and neither of those were in those careful letters. It was likely forged.

The rest of the scene was identical to the first, except that the office wasn’t the representative’s. It belonged to a clerk who wasn’t in town this week due to a lovely vacation she was taking in the Bahamas.

“What was rep Phil doing in the courthouse?” I asked Marv, the cop who’d gotten here first and started processing the scene.

“They have records of him coming in at four pm yesterday, but not for a specific reason. No idea where he was from four until whenever he was shot. Weird that there were two suicides at the same place, right? And only a few days apart?”

I crouched over the body and squinted while I tried to read his aura. I couldn’t read the aura of the dead, but I could smell his fear and anger, and there was a small indentation around his wrists. Thin, like he’d been held with plastic ties.

I stood up and walked around the small office, checking the view out the window of the park across the street. Could someone fit through this window? No one had heard the shot. No one had come in or out.

“Let me through! You can’t keep me out! I’ve got to see the—“ The sharp gasp at the end of the loud tirade matched the expression on the narrow-cheeked man’s face. He had gold spectacles and a blue suit, and looked like he should be in an office, not a crime scene.

I went over to him, noting the way he was staring at the fallen body. Shock. Disbelief. Horror. “Hi. Did you know Representative Phil?”

“Know him?” he asked, dazedly. “I’m his secretary. Why would he…” He shook his head, expression hardening. “He wouldn’t. He had tonight’s event to go to, and he wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Who killed him?”

“Tonight’s event?”

“Fundraiser with the most influential politicians in the city. He was finally closing the deal with…” He shook his head and glared at me. “Confidential information. I don’t suppose it matters now. Unless he can be raised.” He spun around and headed out.

I hurried after him. “What fundraiser would that be? Was he working on anything that made him particularly vengeful enemies? Did he know Judge Stevens? I need to look at his schedule, all his books.”

“Why? Wasn’t the judge’s death suicide?” he said, giving me a frown that made me hesitate.

“We have to be thorough when investigating the death of a public figure.”

“You can examine them at the house if you have the proper authority.” He continued his hurried way out, ignoring the cops who had tried to keep him out in the first place. I exchanged looks with Lewell, who shrugged.

“Politicians. What do you do?”

“Find their killer.” Also, maybe find a way into that event.

I was wrapping up my interviews when Gabby found me.

“Hey! Look at you, all official business. So, I asked around about Judge Stevens, and the chatter was that he may have been taking bribes. I don’t know if that’s true, but considering the fact that Representative Phil ran his platform on ending corruption, but then quietly eased into taking kick-backs, I think there’s a good chance it is. Not that it would explain a murder, or a suicide, unless he had a sudden guilty conscience, but it’s something.” She linked her arm in mine and then her expression fell. “You aren’t impressed with my sleuthing.”

“I am. You’re very impressive. I just…” I turned to face her, grabbing her shoulders. “I think I’m turning into a goblin. I need to convince the Goblin King to help me, but there is no Goblin King, only the Goblin Authority, and I don’t know if the whole thing isn’t a scam, but it feels like I could concentrate on this case better if I wasn’t constantly distracted by cataloguing everyone’s body odor. A keen sense of smell has its pros and cons.”

She gasped. “That’s why you were talking about goblins? You’re becoming a goblin? How does that work, exactly?”

I shrugged. “Exactly? I have no idea. I just know that I have a lot of power, and better senses. I can’t see in the dark, and my skin’s still…” We both stared at my wrist.

“Do you have some time? My mom would love to check you out, and she’s also capable of great, terrifying things. If she doesn’t know what you should do, Libby will. She’s the best researcher in the world. At least when it comes to books and monsters. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me last night. We’re besties. If I was turning into a gargoyle…” She trailed off and then squinched up her face. “Anyway, I’m glad you told me. Can you come now?”

I hesitated, then nodded and texted Brannigan.

I won’t need a ride back.

He texted back.

Good because I left hours ago.

Under that was a golf emoji. Yep. Good thing he checked in with me before taking off. We needed to completely overhaul the police department to match the resources with the area’s needs. We needed to hire on more supernaturals who could combat the bad guys as well as do really fast paperwork. We needed a larger garage, a larger police department, but that would require more funding. I was just happy that funding the department wasn’t one of my jobs.

“Are you good?” she asked, tugging on my arm.

“I’m good,” I said, smiling and slipping my arm in hers.

Five minutes later, we were getting out at the Library of Antiquities, which was half a block away from the Cat’s Pause. I self-consciously took off my jacket and hat, wrapping them under my arm as I eyed the restaurant nervously.

“You still haven’t told her? She’s going to find out some time, and the longer you wait, the worse it will be.”

I shrugged and hurried up the steps, Gabby close beside me, two enormous ogre bodyguards behind her.

Gabby’s mom was in the lobby, leaning on the marble counter in the center and chatting with the guy who looked confused, intimidated, and very polite. He didn’t flinch from her scars or her gold necklaces.

“Mom, I brought Rynne. You were right about her energy being off. She’s turning into a goblin. Cool, right?”

Anna, the Grand Sorcerer, turned to study me, frowning, so the scars on her face pulled. “Interesting. I only know one way a human can turn into a goblin. Witches can’t, but maybe your witch blood is watery.”

“Rude,” Gabby said, nudging her mom.

She blinked at her and then at me. “Was it? Oh. I guess it was. I’m sorry, Rynne, sweetie. Sometimes I get caught up in the intellectual question and forget about the real feeling people behind them. Can I take some blood and tissue samples?”

I hesitated and then shrugged, glancing at the clerk, who was trying not to notice us or hear our conversation. “Okay.”

Anna pulled out one of my hairs, jabbed my arm with a pin, and then ran a finger over the side of my neck, shook said fingers out and then sneezed. “Sorry. I should probably do this in a lab, but if you’re turning into a goblin, the results will be fairly clear.” She waved her hand and dark marks of shifting evil coalesced around my floating hair, a drop of floating blood, and some specks of sweat or skin, nothing very visible.

She gestured and my samples landed on a sheet of paper, sealed down like they’d been air zipped. She licked her fingers, which were dripping dark energy that got on her chin and made her look more than slightly macabre. Her eyes were unfocused as she wove dark magics in the middle of the library lobby until finally she wiggled her fingers and sighed heavily.

“Yes, you’re definitely turning into a goblin. But the process should be complete by now. Somehow, it’s been interrupted by a very interesting force. Part curse, part spell, all stronger than anything I could unravel. Gabby, do you see it?”

Gabby was frowning at the paper with a distant look on her face, but then she blinked and shrugged. “It’s all green blobs to me. Green blobs swallowing her cells, green blobs paralyzing the spreading blobs, blocking the absorption. The transformation is paused, but it’ll likely continue when the hero green blobs dissolve. They should be different colors. How are you supposed to identify who is the hero and who is the villain if they’re all green?”

I rubbed my forehead and turned to look at Anna the Healer, who was also the world’s greatest sorcerer. “You couldn’t undo it?”

She put an arm around my shoulder and gave me a mothering smile that was seriously spoiled by the strands of black magic still trailing down her chin. “I’m sorry, Rynne, but no. I can’t undo it. The most you can hope for is that the green super blobs can last a long time.”

Gabby and I sighed at the same time.

“Sorry,” she muttered, squeezing my arm. “We can still ask Libby what she thinks. Do some research about goblins so you know what you’re turning into.”

I looked up at the large clock in the lobby and frowned. It was five to six. “Actually, I have to get to the bank. Supposedly, the Goblin Authority will be in his office today. Do you know what time Granite closes?”

“Don’t all banks close at six?” Anna asked.

Gabby started dragging me towards the tall double doors. “You’re meeting the Goblin Authority? Do you want me to come? We could bring the bodyguards.”

“No escort, but I would like a ride. It’ll be fine. You know where I’m going and can come rescue me if I disappear without a trace.”

She puffed a breath. “Don’t joke about that. You know the stories of goblins always include the goblin king stealing away some idiot girl that wishes to escape her life.”

“I don’t wish or want to escape my life.”

“Good thing. Still, don’t joke about disappearing. Maybe I should come with you.” She chewed on her bottom lip while I grabbed her in a quick hug.

“The odds of him talking while you’re there are zilch. At least alone he might tell me if there’s some way I can stop this goblin transformation. Although, it’s stopped. I just have to keep it stopped.”

I smiled at her, trying to look hopeful, and then we were running, taking the long steps two and three at a time, on it, like we were when we were skating. We should do that again some time. We both worked too hard. No, I worked too hard, and she had other people in her life. Like a husband that she spent quality time with.

We got in the car, and the door slammed behind us.

“How’s the husband?” I asked, trying not to feel awkward. She’d finally gotten with the idiot guy who had loved her forever, but had no idea how to express it. He had convinced me that all guys in love are idiots.

“Apples is bananas, and I mean that in the best way. I’m so glad you’re turning into a goblin instead of dating one. Men just make you insane. He’s always trying to get me to agree to more bodyguards. Do you not see the ogres I already have trailing me? And my own magic isn’t anything to sniff at. I’m really quite talented at defense and offense. Actually,” she said with a slow grin. “I’m really, really good at offense. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you to talk to the Goblin Authority?”

I gave her a tight smile. “Actually, I’m going to try to get him to date me. I think that would probably work better without anyone else.”

Her smile vanished. “Oh. You’re going to try and date him? That seems unwise, and you are usually quite bright, except for the lying to your mother thing. But if it’s what you want. You do want to date the Goblin Authority?”

I groaned and put my head on my knees while life’s frustrations swallowed me. “I don’t know.”

“Okay. Well, maybe hold off on the dating until you’ve figured out the turning-into-a-goblin thing, okay?”

The car stopped and with that, we were there, parked in front of the largest, most solid building in all of Sing. Granite was the largest, most impervious stronghold in the country, possibly the world. And I was going to go inside of it and hope I came back out.

“The architecture’s incredibly boring. Why are goblin things always square little boxes? I mean, big boxes in this case. It looks so solid.”

I opened the door and slipped out before I changed my mind. I had to hurry. Actually, maybe it was already closed. Then I could talk to him tomorrow. Or the day after. Or next week. Or next month.

I steeled my nerves, took a deep breath, and ignored the acrobatics going on in my stomach as I marched up the steps and to the front door. It was locked. I checked my phone, and there was the time, 6:04 pm.

Gabby was at the bottom of the steps beside her car, frowning up at me. I could try again later. Or forget about it. It was a stupid idea to date the Goblin King. Sashimi was probably messing with me.

An elven woman slipped out of the door right in front of me and I stuck my foot in, keeping it from closing while she hurried down the stairs looking distraught, like they’d just foreclosed on her mansion.

Was I going to do this? My foot was in the door. Literally. I gritted my teeth and slipped the rest of me inside the cool lobby, vaulted ceiling full of chiseled curlicues and flourishes that could probably hide a dozen goblins. They could rain down on you.

I stood there staring at that ceiling until a goblin approached me, wearing a tidy gray business suit that went with his tidy bald head.

“The bank is closed. If you’d like to come back on Monday, I’m sure we can help you then.”

I stared at him while my soul floated out of me, abandoning me to my fate. “Oh. Is the Goblin Authority here?”

He raised his hairless brows, looking at me again with some concern. “Perhaps. Are you sure you’d like to know?”

I wasn’t sure, and my stomach and my heart were moving in different directions, leaving me positively squeamish. I took a deep, even breath, catching his scent, the curiosity and the thread of disapproval. He didn’t think human girls should pursue the Goblin Authority so shamelessly, particularly at a respectable bank like the Granite.

Really? I was pursuing the poor Goblin Authority? Well, of course I was. If he could actually stop me from becoming a goblin, I’d pursue him to the moon and back. I could be very tenacious when necessary. I never would have become a police officer otherwise.

“Yes. If the Goblin Authority is here, then I’d like to see him. We have some business to take care of.”

“You have business with the Goblin Authority?”

“Of course. Why else would I come to his business?” Is that what this was? The business of dating had never sounded so official. Officially weird.

He frowned as he studied me. “Very well. This way, if you would be so kind. I don’t believe he’s left his office yet.”

I followed him, shocked that he’d take the human girl he felt so much contempt for so easily. The Goblin Authority’s office was on the top floor. The lobby outside his office had an enormous arched window that looked over the city, and the extreme drop to the street below.

There wasn’t anyone behind the long desk of gray stone, just the door, also gray stone, with an enormous knocker on it.

“Go ahead and knock,” the tidy suit said, edging away from me, back towards the elevator while he eyed the door with unease.

“I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s doing something important.”

“I don’t blame you, but there’s no way to tell what he’s doing until it’s already done.” The goblin’s words were not helping me relax.

Oh well. I wasn’t here to relax. I marched over to the stone door, raised the knocker, and let it fall. Then I pushed on the latch and shoved the door open with all my strength.

I assumed that the stone door would be difficult to move, but the balance was so perfect, it swung open like an ordinary door, smashing against the wall with an enormous crash that made chills run down my spine and arms. Apparently, I was making an entrance.

I walked in quickly and closed the door behind me carefully, then turned to face the rest of the room. To the right, in a charming alcove surrounded by window seats and bookshelves, a rabid raccoon lay on a pile of pillows, staring at me with bared teeth, like I’d just disturbed his nap.

To the left was another door, while directly ahead of me was an enormous desk, and an enormous chair, that was facing the window behind the desk, away from me. The chair turned slowly while I stood there, trying not to bolt, trying not to smell like fear and frustration, and then I was facing the Goblin Authority. Sashimi sat in the chair, with his shiny dark hair and a slight frown on his mouth.