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Chapter Twenty-Three

It was only when Yanni stopped the car that I realised I'd drifted away into my own thoughts. ‘We’re here,’ she said. ‘Do you want to bring Eva in with us?’

Eva had spent most of the day as a guard dog, first outside Warren’s yacht and then Jennifer’s cottage. Knowing her, she was in desperate need of some human interaction even if it was only listening to more questioning and getting the occasional pat.

‘Yeah, why not? She can be disarming. A dog helps settle people, which sometimes mean they reveal more than they mean to.’

Yanni looked impressed. ‘Maybe I should get one,’ she mused. ‘For the office,’ she added hastily.

‘If you do, don’t forget to increase the snack budget. And add some extra money for baby wipes – they’re handy to clean up the drool.’ Eva shot me an outraged look, which we both knew wasn’t warranted. When she was waiting for treats she drooled like she’d turned on a tap. It was gross, but I loved her anyway.

‘Come on, girl,’ I said and she jumped out behind us. I didn’t tell her to be quiet; she already knew that. She’d been my wingdog during many an interview and she knew her role well: disarm, charm and calm.

When Yanni knocked on the door, it was answered promptly by a stout woman with an amazing head of deep brown curls. Her eyes glinted with a smile that flickered slightly when she saw Yanni standing there. ‘Oh, hello,’ she said.

‘I’m Police Chief Greenridge,’ Yanni introduced herself. ‘We’re looking for Toby Brown. Is he in?’

‘I’m his mother, Selena.’ The woman’s face tightened. ‘What do you need him for?’

Yanni smiled broadly, though I could feel the tension in her body. ‘We actually need to speak to your son directly. It’s in connection with one of our investigations.’

Eva stepped forward and put her puppy-dog eyes to work. Instinctively Selena crouched down, held out her hand and let my dog sniff her before patting her head. Perfect: she was a dog person.

‘Investigation?’ Selena asked. ‘What sort of Investigation?’ Her lips pressed into a tight line. ‘If it’s poaching, then he’s not poaching. That land out back is for all the shifters – it’s in the original agreements, the ones that date back as far as the Witchlight.’

‘No, it’s not about poaching.’ Yanni’s tone grew more serious. ‘It’s a bit more than that. It’s a murder investigation.’

Selena froze mid-pat and her eyes shot up to meet Yanni’s. ‘What? A murder ?’ She’d gone pale. ‘You’d better come in.’ She straightened and held open the door for us.

She led us into her lounge, a small room painted sage green with worn sofas and a well-loved rug. When we sat down, Eva jumped up, snuggled next to Selena and laid her huge head on the woman’s lap. Instantly Selena tangled her hands into Eva’s long golden fur.

Finally she asked the question she’d been building up the courage to ask. ‘Who’s been killed?’

‘Warren Storcrest.’

Selena’s mouth dropped open. ‘Oh, good God. The poor man. Oh poor Jennifer. She must be devastated.’ Tears filled her eyes and she clutched a hand to her heart.

I lowered my shields and her emotions clobbered me over the head: shock and sadness. The punch of them was so strong that I struggled to breathe for a second then hastily tried to pull my walls back up. It took effort and I sagged a little in the chair. Damn it, I’d forgotten how strongly a supernatural’s emotions could hit me; it was so much stronger than being around humans all the time. I’d need to use my magic sparingly because Selina’s impact had instantly left me with a pounding headache.

‘You know Jennifer well, I take it?’ Yanni asked, and I tuned back into the here and now.

‘Oh yes, absolutely. She’s a lovely girl. Jennifer and Toby were so well matched, though unfortunately her family didn’t see it that way.’ Selena grimaced. ‘Especially not after the incident with the merman.’

‘I heard about that,’ Yanni said pointedly. ‘So, is Toby in?’

Selena’s eyes widened. ‘No, he’s out, but you can’t think he had something to do with this! He wouldn’t—’

‘We need to talk to him, that’s all,’ Yanni interjected smoothly. ‘To ascertain his whereabouts for the last day or so. It’s simply procedure.’

‘He was with me all of last night and most of today. He only went out hunting – I don’t know – an hour ago? I could try ringing him but he doesn’t get much of a signal in the woods. Oh God, I wish his father was here! This is terrible.’

‘Honestly, it’s fine,’ Yanni reassured her. ‘He’s not being arrested; we’re just trying to follow up all the leads we can. ’

‘I bet it was Jennifer’s brothers pointing fingers, wasn’t it? Of course it was. They’re the ones that had a real problem with Jennifer dating Toby. The youngest brother particularly – but then, that one’s had it rough. His mother isn’t much of a mother, if you see what I mean, but Warren has tried his hardest with all of them. He’s a great role model, teaching them the real values in life, making them work like he did. Gosh, poor Jennifer. I can’t imagine how she’s coping with this.’ She sighed. ‘You know, I was sure she and Toby would get back together once the anger about that merperson incident had died away.’

It was a lot of things to share in one breath but somehow Selena had done it.

‘The thing is, we still need to talk to Toby,’ Yanni said gently. ‘Just to confirm where he was.’

‘I already told you he was with me last night and this morning. I can prove it to you. I’ve got video tapes, security around the house, you know.’

‘You have security cameras?’ I interjected, surprised. Why on earth would she have cameras in a cosy little seaside village? I bit my lip immediately after the question left me. I’d managed to stay silent, but that little titbit had got me. After all, it was a tiny house and it didn’t look like it had much worth stealing .

‘Nothing elaborate – it’s an old system,’ Selena said. ‘I had it put in after Toby was born when that sorceress tried stealing that teenager. You might have been too young to remember the incident,’ she said to me.

Blood rushed in my ears. I remembered it all too well.

Yanni looked at me sympathetically, but I gave Selena my best bland smile and did my best not to reveal how much the comment bothered me. ‘Yes, I remember it,’ I said as evenly as I could.

‘None of us felt safe after that dreadful incident. So many deaths.’ She clutched a hand to her heart again. ‘A lot of us were scared for our kids so we put in additional safety measures.’

‘We’ll need to check the footage,’ Yanni said. ‘Can you let us know when Toby gets back? If it’s late tonight, ringing the station tomorrow morning will be fine. Beatrix will answer the phone,’ she added pointedly, implying I’d actually have to do the job I’d been employed to do at some point. Outrageous.

‘Toby is going to be so upset for Jennifer.’ Selina took a deep breath. ‘He usually heads out to work with his dad about nine, so it’ll be before then.’

Yanni nodded. ‘That would be great.’

Damn, I thought grumpily. There went any chance of a later start tomorrow, then. I despised early starts.

This job was temporary, but it was really chafing at me not to be running my own business. I appreciated Maddie sorting me out with an income whilst I sorted out the Eternal Flame situation, but if I stayed here much longer I’d have to think seriously about advertising my PI services in the local paper, The Cove Chronicle .

‘Thank you for your time,’ Yanni said, standing to leave.

Eva nuzzled Selena Brown pointedly, and a small smile crept onto her face, ‘Aren’t you a dear,’ she murmured, giving her a quick hug. It might be wrong to trust a dog’s reaction but Eva had taken so well to Toby’s mum that it made me think her son probably wasn’t involved in the murder. Still, Yanni was right: we had to follow the evidence.

Selena agreed to get her husband, Darren, to bring us the footage from the security cameras first thing tomorrow. As we left the house, I did a quick scout around. Now that I was looking for them, I found the two cameras mounted on the house easily, one at the front, one at the back. The problem was that their coverage wasn’t complete; there were a few blind spots. If Toby had been determined to sneak away unspotted by the cameras, I reckoned he could have done so.

Eva stayed hot on my heels. I opened the car door for her to jump in, then hesitated. Yanni was done for the day but I wasn’t, not quite. I looked at Eva and closed the car door again. She sat down at my feet.

‘Yanni,’ I said casually, ‘we’re not far from Shingle’s End, are we?’ That was where Old Jacobson’s lived, the hermit witch that Mrs D had told me about. The one who might be able to help Maddie and me.

‘Shingle’s End?’ Yanni sounded surprised. ‘Well, no – you’re on the right side of the village. Probably half an hour’s walk. Why?’

‘Oh, I fancied going for a bit of a stroll. You know, reminiscing about my time here,’ I lied.

She frowned at me. ‘Are you sure? It’s a bit of a trek back home.’

‘Eva could use a proper walk. I think I owe her at least an hour or so.’ Eva thumped her tail in agreement.

‘Okay, I’ll leave you here,’ Yanni said. ‘See you at the office bright and early tomorrow.’ Her words had an edge; she knew how well I did with early starts.

I hid a wince. ‘Absolutely. See you at the office bright and early,’ I repeated.

I watched her drive away then figuratively rolled up my sleeves. It was time to look into one of my other investigations – namely, getting back the Eternal Flame.