Page 28 of Mystic Justice (The Other Detective #2)

After Gideon showed me the back room, I called Elvira and Bland to follow me out to Krieg’s car. Loki fluttered into the car, resting on his favourite spot on the back-seat headrest.

‘I Gideon,’ Loki said, gyrating his groin obscenely. ‘I shag all. I asshole.’ He whistled in a derisory fashion. ‘Asshole. Pooped in his coffee,’ he confided, making me grin despite myself.

Gideon had made some noises about feeling bad about the imps he’d attacked, but he’d made no apologies about routinely fucking his way through his young and vulnerable staff.

He may be trying to stop someone more evil than himself but that didn’t absolve him of leveraging his position of power over his staff to get laid.

Still, Betty was a consenting adult and unless she came forward about feeling pressured – which, frankly, wasn’t the vibe I’d got – then it was just an ill-advised work relationship.

Those happened the world over, whether I liked it or not. And I did not.

‘Anything?’ I asked Elvira, once we were within the confines of the vehicle.

She sighed. ‘No other witches in the other staff.’

‘And no red flags,’ Bland added. ‘The staff we interviewed included one other dryad who was obviously devastated by Moss’s death. She said they frequently worked the back room together where plants are grown. There’s something else cagey going on there. I could feel it.’

‘Me too,’ Elvira agreed.

‘They’re growing illegal plants for the black coven, not just for the front of house,’ I explained grimly. ‘But that’s not the focus of our investigation, so let it lie.’ The fewer people who knew about Gideon’s undercover role the better, even within my own team.

‘Right you are. The rest of the staff are all wizards,’ Bland continued without missing a beat. ‘Low grade, levels one and two only. All of them had alibis for the times of Hollings’s and Bogan’s deaths, though not many had them for both.’

‘And regular customers?’ I asked.

‘Well, that’s a little more interesting,’ Elvira said. ‘The most frequent regulars are the temporal guards from the bombed-out church.’

I raised my eyebrows. St Luke’s, known locally as the bombed-out church, housed the most important portal in the UK. It was one of a handful of portals the world over that allowed direct access to the Third realm – the realm that let you play with time as if it weren’t linear.

Because of the place’s importance – and its danger – it was guarded round the clock by black-ops wizards who were trained killing machines.

Each temporal guard was hand selected while in his or her prime and given a maximum of two years’ work.

After their time was up, they were thrown back into circulation to continue government-sanctioned killings, or they became private mercenaries or bodyguards.

I frowned. ‘Trying to kidnap or kill a temporal guard would be madness.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Elvira huffed. ‘But what if one of the guards has a screw loose and decided to go on a killing spree?’

I considered it for a moment. ‘It’s possible, but they undergo regular psychological evaluations, and seer touches.

And it’s notable that none of the deaths so far have been done using the IR.

If a wizard was responsible for drowning Moss, there wouldn’t have been bruises on the back of her neck that showed she’d been held down. ’

‘They could have tossed a centaur into the air, though,’ Elvira argued, playing devil’s advocate.

I was a level five wizard: I’d never tried to toss something that big up into the air, and nothing I’d thrown had ever travelled thousands of feet. ‘It’s not likely. How far have you thrown something?’ I asked. She was level five too.

‘A few hundred yards,’ she admitted.

‘Right. And with Bogan, we’re talking about throwing a really heavy guy thousands of feet high. It doesn’t fit.’ I rubbed my tired eyes. ‘Goddamn it. The killer will strike again and we’ve got shit.’

I pulled out my phone and dialled McCaffrey, Channing and Frost, joining them on a video call and putting them on speakerphone when they answered. ‘McCaffrey, tell me some good news,’ I said.

‘Sorry, boss. I’ve been through all the CCTV again but there’s nothing. Either the kidnapping didn’t take place here, or the kidnapper knows exactly where the CCTV cameras cover and where they don’t. That would make it an inside job.’

I sighed. ‘It turns out there’s a super-secret back room where they’re growing illegal plants. It’s covered by illusion spells and there’s no CCTV inside or outside of it. I’m betting Moss left through the back room and was kidnapped from there.’

‘Shit,’ McCaffrey muttered.

‘Indeed. I’m setting up surveillance tonight until closing time. I’ll monitor the back exit that’s not covered by CCTV.’

‘I can watch the front,’ Channing offered.

‘Bland and I can be a visible presence in the bar,’ Elvira said. ‘Maybe that will be enough to make the killer think twice about targeting someone else.’

Frost spoke up. ‘I can watch discreetly from inside. I haven’t been to Botany yet, so no one knows I’m a cop. I can go in civvies.’

I grimaced. ‘Without a mate to hang out with, you’d stick out like a sore thumb.’

‘I’ll go too,’ McCaffrey offered. ‘I spoke to the staff about Moss going missing but that was a few days ago. If I wear a wig, no one will recognise me.’

I sighed. ‘You’re all supposed to be off shift.’

‘With respect,’ Elvira said tightly, ‘the killers aren’t going to be off shift.’

She was right, and I really didn’t want to start another day with another corpse. ‘No, they’re not. Okay. Get yourselves some refs and go back to Botany. It looks like we have a stakeout.’

Krieg and I had pulled the short straw. He’d swapped his flashy Range Rover for a well-loved but beaten and dented Ford Focus. We were parked on the same street as the back room exit but a good few feet back: we could see the exit but we weren’t on top of it.

We’d been watching the door – which was hidden by another wall illusion – for four hours. It was almost time for the bar to close but so far none of us had seen anything suspicious.

Earlier on, Ji-ho had been to Botany and installed more hidden cameras including one in the back room.

He was monitoring the remote video feed in a van parked on the next street.

We were pouring man-hours into this operation but at least Thackeray had authorised overtime; he was happy to foot the bill as long as the OT produced results.

I hoped to hell it would, but my gut was still twisting.

The killers hadn’t finished. They’d used water and air, and fire and earth were still on their to-do list.

I tapped my comms. ‘Status check. Anyone got anything?’

‘Negative,’ Channing replied. ‘The front entrance has been quiet all night. So far I’ve only had a drunk dryad trying to flirt with me.’

‘The bar is calm,’ Elvira said. ‘The staff look tired but they’re not twitchy and there’s no sign of any new players.’

‘Inside is boring,’ Frost muttered. ‘I’ve counted the wall tiles twice and memorised the cocktail list. There’s no sign of trouble.’

‘Same here,’ McCaffrey added. ‘Though I’ve had a surprisingly interesting conversation about kombucha and houseplants.’

‘I love kombucha,’ Ji-ho said enthusiastically. ‘My brother makes award-winning kombucha.’

‘Focus, please,’ I ordered him.

‘Sorry, Shirlylock. All quiet inside, no one has come into the back room.’

‘Alright,’ I said. ‘Keep your eyes open. We’ll stay until closing time.

Let’s hope we at least spook the killers into staying home tonight.

Keep the airway free – final check-in in fifteen minutes.

’ I lifted my finger from the comms and switched to receive-only so I could still hear the team but keep my conversation with Krieg private.

He gave me a look as he sipped his stone-cold coffee. ‘This is a romantic evening.’

I gave him a tired smile. ‘I know how to rock a man’s world.’

‘I suspect you do,’ he murmured softly. ‘You’re flagging, Inspector. It’s been a long day, and you’re already carrying the third victim on your shoulders even though their body hasn’t dropped.’

Damn him for being so perceptive. ‘Gideon was right. None of this has been on impulse – whoever is doing it has studied the regulars and the staff coming and going. I’m betting the next victim has already been earmarked.’

‘Maybe we spooked them.’

‘Maybe,’ I said, though I didn’t believe it. ‘More likely they changed the kidnap point. The full moon is high for the next couple of nights. It’s now or never.’

We watched the staff close up shop and leave.

‘Let’s call it,’ I said into the comms. ‘Thank you all for your hard work. Go home, get some rest. We’ll have another long day tomorrow.

’ My gut twisted with fear that we’d find another body.

I prayed I was wrong, but none of us would be any good operating on empty. We were done.

Krieg fired up the engine and, without asking, turned the car towards my home. ‘Thanks,’ I said as I yawned.

‘You’re welcome, Inspector.’

Loki was huddled on my shoulder, already sound asleep. He hadn’t enjoyed the stakeout as night had fallen. To stay hidden, we’d had no lights on in the car and I’d felt his small body trembling on my shoulder the whole while.

When I got home, I turned on every damned light for him before I collapsed into bed. It had been such a damned long day and I wondered when I’d be woken with the news of a new death. Because I was all-but certain there would be one.

Elsewhere, someone was dying in the dark.