Page 3 of Veiled Justice (The Other Detective #1)

My youngest brother had the same warm skin tone as mine, but he kept his brown hair far shorter and neater. Right now, though, his complexion was wan and his hair was mussed. As I watched, he dragged an agitated hand through it once again.

‘Thanks for calling me,’ I said softly as I approached him and Ava. I didn’t ask if they were okay; they’d found a young woman stabbed to death so of course they weren’t okay. Something would be wrong with you if you were – either that or you worked in law enforcement.

Rupert was a civil lawyer and, as far as I could tell, Ava was just a lady that lunched. Her father was rich as hell and he doted on his only daughter. Neither she nor my brother was used to murder. ‘How are you two doing?’ I asked quietly.

Rupert grimaced. ‘Honestly? This wasn’t quite what I had in mind for this evening.’

‘I doubt this is what Helga Jónson wanted either,’ I chided gently.

‘No.’ He sighed. ‘Far worse for her.’ He avoided looking at the body.

‘It’s just awful,’ Ava breathed, her voice catching as she spoke. Her big blue eyes were round with horror.

I’d only met my baby brother’s girlfriend once before when she’d been way overdressed for dinner.

She was even more elaborately kitted out now in a bright-pink princess ball gown and a matching pink-feather mask.

Her platinum hair was piled on her head in an elaborate array of plaits and her lips were painted the perfect shade of fuchsia to complement her dress.

She was wearing enough jewellery to ransom a small country.

Of the two of them, there was no need to ask who had bought the tickets to this exclusive social event.

‘Did you see the attack?’ I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Rupert’s panicked voice over the phone had babbled breathlessly about a body, but he hadn’t mentioned witnessing the murder and he definitely would have done. It wasn’t the kind of detail you’d leave out.

Rupe shook his head and looked at me with dismayed green eyes that mirrored my own.

We both took after Dad in that respect. ‘She was dead when we found her. I checked her pulse, but—That’s why I called you.

Too late for a healer. I did what you asked and stayed with the body to make sure no one contaminated the scene while Ava went inside to raise the alarm. ’

‘Then I came back to Rupe.’ Ava looked up at him with a soft smile. ‘To keep him company. I couldn’t very well leave him alone with …’ Her voice trailed off and she pointed to the body with a glittery, manicured nail.

‘You did well,’ I murmured reassuringly. ‘Both of you. I need to ask you a few more questions, okay?’ They nodded. ‘What time did you find the body?’

Ava tilted her head as she considered. ‘The fireworks were at midnight. They’d ended and we’d gone in for a drink before heading back out – 12.30 maybe?’

‘Yeah,’ Rupert agreed. ‘Something like that.’

I’d received the call from Rupe at 12.36 am, so that correlated. ‘Did you touch the body?’

They shook their heads. ‘No, we didn’t move or touch anything,’ Rupert said.

‘Apart from checking her pulse?’ I clarified.

Rupe blinked. ‘Yeah, you’re right. I touched her neck to check for a pulse but after that I didn’t touch her or anything else.’

I wished like hell that Ava had checked Helga’s pulse because now Rupe’s prints were on the dead body. If the Connection wanted a scapegoat, they’d be pointing at him. If Ava’s prints had been on the body no doubt her daddy’s money would have protected her. The Connection was fickle like that.

I didn’t share any of my immediate concerns: they’d already dealt with quite enough for one night. ‘You did the right thing, both of you. How did you approach the body?’

‘Um, from this direction.’ Rupert pointed towards Helga’s head, showing they had approached directly from Arley Hall.

‘Did you see the victim at all during the evening?’

Ava frowned but shook her head.

‘I saw her,’ Rupe confirmed. ‘She was following around some young men, teens maybe. They were acting like arseholes. I saw one of them flirting with a girl and peering down the neckline of her dress. The dead lady put a stop to it.’

‘Put a stop to it how?’ I asked.

‘She didn’t cause a scene but she got real close to the guy doing the peering and she said something that made him balk. He stopped after that.’

‘The girl they were harassing – did you get her name or can you give me a description?’ I’d find the name of Helga’s employer soon enough, but my brother might have been the only one who’d seen this particular interaction.

Maybe the girl would remember more about her saviour than he did.

And maybe the whispered threat had proved too much for Helga’s teen client.

Rupert shrugged helplessly. ‘It’s a masquerade ball, Stacy. I could have been next to you and not known it! The girl was wearing a black dress – ball gown. She was a brunette. Sorry, that’s all I’ve got.’

‘And the teens?’ I asked, homing in on the boys who had probably hired Helga in the first place.

‘No idea. Just some young men in tuxes, you know?’

‘Okay. Did you see anyone else in the area when you came outside?’

Rupert blew out a breath. ‘No, not that I remember. We were … distracted. Wrapped up in each other.’

At any other time I would have let out a teasing ‘aww’ but this really wasn’t the time. ‘Did anyone try to come to the scene after you announced her death, Ava?’

‘No one,’ she replied quietly. ‘But they’re all gossiping about it inside. Such a scandal.’ Her eyes were flat. ‘They’re all whispering about it, like it’s salacious, like it’s something to write home about. It’s not. It’s horrible.’

My tone was sympathetic. ‘It’s different when you haven’t seen it yourself – it’s hypothetical. It’s far more real when you’re close enough to see the whites of her eyes.’

Ava shuddered delicately. ‘You’re right, I’m sure. It’s awful. I think I’ll see her forever.’

‘It’ll get easier with time,’ I assured her. The human memory is a wonderful thing, and all too good at sweeping darkness into the recesses of our minds.

I looked at them both. ‘Have you got anything else to tell me …?’ I trailed off as they both shook their heads. ‘Okay, I want you to come inside with me and see if you can spot the girl that the guys were harassing – and spot the guys, too, if you can.’

Rupert nodded decisively. ‘I can do that, the girl at least. I remember her dress – I think.’

‘When can we go home?’ Ava asked, her generous bottom lip wobbling. I didn’t blame her; not everyone is cut out for murder and mayhem.

‘Soon,’ I promised. ‘Just look around for the girl first. If you can’t identify her, you can go.’ I sent them a faint smile and tried for some levity. ‘After all, I know where Rupert lives if I’ve got any more follow-up questions.’

At the age of twenty-nine, Rupe still lived with our mum. She wasn’t a fan of my role within the Connection and the tension between us had ultimately led me to move out earlier than I might otherwise have done. Still, I’d had a good reason for joining the Connection.

As the baby of the family, Rupert hadn’t flown the nest and I didn’t blame him. Julian and I had already gone and he didn’t want to be the one who left Mum to live alone.

‘Maybe don’t mention the murder to Mum,’ I suggested.

Rupert snorted. ‘And here I was planning to bring it up over breakfast.’

Mum had already had her fill of murder. My dad had been an officer of the Connection for twenty years until he’d been killed on the job – murdered.

Mum despised the fact that I now worked for them and was terrified I’d meet the same fate.

Eventually I’d moved out so I didn’t have to face her constant irascibility.

What I did have to face was Cameron Quintos – drug baron, philanthropist and the organiser of this whole deadly shindig.