Page 40 of Veiled Justice (The Other Detective #1)

I handed all three files over to Gareth ‘Gaz’ Steele at the CPS for peer review; even though I was Judge, Jury and Executioner, I needed the case to be airtight.

I didn’t want any of their fancy lawyers tapdancing out of the charges.

Gaz would lock it down, dot the I’s, cross the T’s so that any appeal would be dead in the water before it began.

And that was good because an appeal was his purview, not mine.

The greying man grinned as he took the files. ‘I love working with you. You had them all nailed to rights already but with two of them confessing, they’re tied up with bows on. I’ll see all three bound for Wraithmore shortly.’

‘I didn’t manage to crack Montague or Squiggins.

’ I sighed. They had both lawyered up and I’d had long interviews that resulted in nothing more than brief, prepared statements and a string of ‘no comment’ replies.

They had certainly known what was going on, and we had some evidence against them thanks to Verona and Quintos, but it wasn’t a solid case.

Beyond reasonable doubt was a high threshold.

It wasn’t clear whether they’d known about the deaths that were being planned, though they had definitely witnessed them and done nothing.

In their lawyer-prepped statements, both had asserted they feared for their lives if they came forward.

That would be hard to disprove, especially with Louisa’s killing spree culminating in the death of her father.

Still, the main players were all fucked and that counted for something. And I’d keep an eye on Squiggins; the handsy little fuck would grope the wrong person and I’d be ready for him.

‘They were small fry,’ Gaz consoled me. ‘Neither one was part of the planning stages.’

‘Pissants,’ Loki agreed.

Gaz looked amused. ‘You got a parrot?’

‘Not parrot!’ Loki squawked indignantly.

‘A pigeon?’ Gaz guessed again.

Loki flew to him and screeched directly in his ear before dropping a small white poo on his shoulder and flying away. I stared at the bird shit. ‘Sorry about that,’ I said stiffly. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t bring him to work.’

Gaz grinned. ‘Being pooed on is good luck, isn’t it? I’ll grab a lottery ticket on the way home.’

‘Anyway.’ I dragged us back to topic. ‘The miscreants. At the very least they witnessed murder and didn’t stop it.

’ Montague had looked sick the whole time I’d been questioning him and I had a feeling he’d soon take himself somewhere far away.

Good: I hoped it haunted him. He could have got help for both of the victims but he hadn’t.

His hands weren’t physically dirty but his soul wasn’t clean; standing by whilst atrocities happened was almost as bad as committing them yourself.

Squiggins had been drunk and triumphant when I’d interviewed him after Alice Rose’s death.

Something told me it wasn’t just his groping I needed to keep an eye on; he’d had a taste of death and he’d liked it.

If I’d been a betting person, I’d have put money on him killing again, maybe not while his friend’s arrest was so fresh in his mind, but one day …

‘I hear you,’ Gaz said. ‘I’ll review the statements and give you my view, but I’ve never known you to make a wrong judgement call. You get that from your father.’

He had worked alongside my father for years; Dad always said a straighter arrow didn’t exist than Gaz Steele.

As for Kane? The dryad assassin was in the wind.

He’d killed one of his own so that death was covered by the in-house rule.

His employer's involvement nullified the rule for them but not for him. He was going to get away – but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to talk to him and rattle his cage.

I had an APB out on him, though I suspected nothing would come of it for now.

He was a professional assassin; he knew when and how to disappear.

I left Gaz to it. Loki flew ahead as we made our way to my small office. DS Roberts stopped me on the way. ‘Heard you got your perps.’

‘Yeah, all three of them.’

‘Nice.’

I studied him for any sign of sarcasm but saw none. I nodded. ‘Thanks.’

‘How did the kid do?’ Roberts jerked his head towards Channing.

I grimaced. ‘Good.’ I paused. ‘I’m not used to having a partner.’

Roberts smirked. ‘Don’t we know it? You’re a lone wolf, Wise, but it’s your duty to train him properly. He’s been sulking around the station. He’s here to help you. Train him, use him. Make a good officer out of him. Put in the time and effort.’

Fuck’s sake, I was getting my wrist slapped. ‘Stop making sense, Roberts, because I think it’s one of the signs of the apocalypse.’

Point made, he smirked and walked off.

I called Channing into my office, gestured for him to take a seat and closed the door, activating the privacy runes so none of the Common police officers like Roberts could hear us.

‘Good job on getting the statements from DeLea and the maid,’ I started brusquely.

‘Your help was instrumental in getting the perps behind bars.’

‘Thank you, ma’am. It was impressive to see you work. They’ll go away for a long time.’

I smiled wryly. ‘With a team of hot-shot lawyers behind them, I expect they’ll try to recant their statements.’

‘Will they succeed?’

‘No, but they can waste their money trying.’

‘Ma’am, they killed. Why didn’t you just end them and remove the possibility of an appeal or parole?’

I pursed my lips then said slowly, ‘Every life you take haunts you. When you’re hunting a killer, sometimes it’s the right thing to do.

’ I thought of Einar. ‘You know that they’ll kill again and more innocents will die if you stay your hand.

But Quintos, Katz and Louisa were cowardly.

It will hurt them far more to be stuck in a high-security prison, locked up with the dregs of the Other realm.

All the money in the world won’t make Wraithmore a pleasant place to be – they’ll have no fancy clothes, no nice food, no servants.

They’re in for the shock of their lives.

And that’s more just than simply lopping off their heads. ’

Channing nodded slowly. ‘You’re not being merciful at all.’

‘Not in the slightest. For those three, the bars will be a fate worse than death. Literally.’

‘Bars,’ Loki agreed. ‘Cage worst.’ His tone was mournful; he was speaking from experience. My heart twanged in sympathy for the little thing.

There was a knock on the door and DSU Thackeray strode into my office. I surged to my feet. ‘Sir!’

He waved me down. ‘At ease, Inspector. Detective Channing.’

‘Sir!’ Channing responded.

Thackeray looked around my tiny cubicle.

‘There’s not enough room to swing a witch’s familiar in here.

We really need to get you a bigger office,’ he muttered.

He fixed his piercing blue eyes on me. His face was freshly shaved and his uniform looked sharp and newly pressed.

It was Sunday, I realised: he’d come into the unit specially to see us.

He spotted Loki. ‘You have a caladrius?’ he asked, surprised.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Are you bonded to him?’

‘No, he just hangs out with me.’

His eyebrow rose. ‘They’re very rare.’

‘I’m aware.’

‘Of course you are.’ He looked amused. ‘You will have done your research. Anyway, I’m not here to discuss your bird.

Good work, both of you. There will be some political clout thrown around with regard to these three arrests – there’s already been a lot of noise.

I need to know that these cases are airtight. ’

‘Vacuum sealed,’ I confirmed. ‘And I’ve copied all statements and evidence to my home unit in case anything happens to the data here.

’ Corruption was rife in the Connection; a bribe here or there, and the confessions could disappear forever.

‘High King Krieg has also been involved in the cases,’ I went on.

‘He requested copies that have already been supplied.’

In a normal Common police station that would be a fireable offence because the chain of evidence had to be secure and it would never be given to a civilian. But Krieg wasn’t an ordinary civilian and Thackeray knew it.

‘They won’t like that,’ he muttered.

‘Because they won’t be able to make it go away,’ I couldn’t resist pointing out.

He smiled wryly. ‘Exactly. I am, of course, going to give you a stern reprimand and warn you to never do that again.’ He paused. ‘Don’t do it again.’ He winked.

‘No, sir. I consider myself firmly reprimanded.’

‘Excellent. And how is Channing doing?’ he asked, as if Channing were not standing a foot away from him.

‘He’s been an excellent assistant. I will endeavour to train him further as my partner.’

Thackeray nodded: he understood the distinction. ‘See that you do. That’s what he’s here for, Inspector.’ He slid a look to Channing. ‘Have you told her of your background?’

Channing flushed. ‘No, sir.’

‘Remedy that,’ Thackeray ordered him brusquely. He turned back to me. ‘Copy the files to my home office, too.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good work,’ he repeated. ‘Take tomorrow off, both of you. The Inspector that Quintos called in to take over from you can cover your calls for a day.’ Before we could reply, he walked out.

I kind of liked that. Poetic justice. Quintos had pulled strings, trying to get me off the case, and now those strings he’d pulled were working in my favour.

Now I had someone to step into my caseload while I took a day off to kick back and relax.

If Quintos found that out, he’d be so pissed off. I’d send him a thank you note later.

Channing let out a breath. ‘Wow. That’s Thackeray? He’s a freaking legend.’

‘He’s a good man and a great police officer. He’ll go to bat for us and he’ll see the culprits behind bars,’ I said with satisfaction. I leaned forward. ‘What background do you need to tell me about?’

Channing grimaced. ‘Both my parents were wizards, but my mum died in childbirth. Da blamed the witches for not saving her, and he eschewed magic and the Other after that.’

‘Completely?’ I asked in surprise.

‘Yeah. I was raised wholly Common.’ He pressed his lips together. ‘I don’t think Da would ever have introduced me to the Other, but my mum’s parents insisted. He did it finally when I was sixteen.’

I kept my face blank with effort. Sixteen was incredibly old to be introduced to the existence of magic. Channing was young, early twenties. He’d only known magic was real for a handful of years.

‘Thank you for telling me,’ I said finally.

Thackeray was right to insist on it, this changed everything.

I’d been treating Channing like he’d been raised Other, that he knew all the fundamentals, but he didn’t.

If he was going to become an effective partner, we were going to need to plug all the holes in his knowledge.

Channing hesitated. ‘You want to go for a beer, ma’am? To celebrate?’

I recognised it for the olive branch that it was, but a wide yawn cracked my face. ‘I appreciate the offer, Channing, but I’m done in. It’s been a long couple of days.’ Besides, I wanted to tell Rupe to his face that he was free and clear.

‘Of course.’ He stood and turned to leave before hesitating and turning back to me. ‘I know I’m young and I’ve a lot to learn – more than most – but I swear it will be my honour to learn from you. Thackeray isn’t the only legend here.’ He walked out, leaving the door open.

‘Oof,’ I muttered. ‘Don’t put me on a pedestal, kid, I’ll only fall.’

‘You know that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness,’ Krieg said as he slid into my office.

I studied him. ‘Is that so?’

‘Apparently.’ He didn’t sit. ‘You’re tired, Inspector. Allow me to drive you home.’

‘I’m not going home.’ I sent the files to Thackeray’s private email and a brisk email to Rupert’s boss about the arrests we’d made, confirming that my brother was no longer a person of interest, then shut down my computer.

‘I’ll drive you wherever you need to go,’ Krieg offered.

I rubbed my eyes. ‘Stop being so damned perfect, Krieg. It makes you hard to resist.’

‘I’m pleased about that – but I’m not perfect. Far from it. Spend time with me and you’ll find out.’

I’d be damned if I didn’t want to do exactly that. I stood. ‘I’m going to my mum’s house for Sunday dinner.’ Before I could censor myself, I asked, ‘You want to come?’

He smiled. ‘Definitely.’

‘Me, too!’ Loki trilled.

‘Yes,’ I smiled. ‘You, too. Come on, Bird.’

‘After you, Pigdog!’