“Do you want to hear this now?”
“Yeah. It’s important.”
I made the tea first, then settled with him at the table.
He cradled his mug as I explained as much detail as I could about the autopsy.
“Bloody hell,” he said once I was done. “I don’t get the missing bones, not with that one cut. How is that possible? It’s gotta be some kind of bone-sucking creature.”
“Exactly what we need to find out.”
He shuddered. “Nasty shit.”
“It is.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, Dean. Making you rush back here.”
“No, don’t be. I don’t need to be anywhere else right now.”
“Damn right. You’re not going out again tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
I thought that would get me a smile. He’d been rattled to his core, though. If I went out, he’d blow his top. Case or no case, I wouldn’t do that to him when he was like this. Not tonight. He needed me home. Sure, we’d been on cases alone many times, but right now, he was freaked out and needed me. There was no need for me to be anywhere else.
“I want to do some research into Parker Smith tonight,” he said, “and this Tessa woman. See if we can get something up on them. Parker still hasn’t returned my call. I tried again before you got here. Nothing but his voicemail again.”
“Seems pointless him giving you his card if his phone’s off.”
“Yeah. That’s game-playing for ya.” He sipped his drink. “Do you think him and this Tessa could have a connection to the Visser case?”
“How do you mean?”
“Like a crazy cult or something? One that collects bones?” Jake closed his eyes. “A pod-born is the most likely culprit, though. Unless we’re about to discover some new species of supe, or there is some freaky cult shit going on.”
I didn’t believe Mr. Visser was involved in hurting his wife or that he was cruel. From the way he behaved, I got the impression he was devoted to her, that they both lived a relatively normal life. Not that I had a sense of Mrs. Visser’s personality, only that she didn’t want gray hair and apparently ate too many candy canes—according to her husband. It just didn’t strike me that they’d be involved in anything like a cult. But how could Mr. Visser not have heard anything if he’d been sleeping beside her? Mrs. Visser wouldn’t get out of bed quietly in her condition.
Another layer to unpeel.
From the way she’d been killed, it had to be a pod-born creature that’d done it rather than a traditional supe. But I had to start ruling stuff out as a matter of course first.
The ratio of pod-born to regular paranormal perpetrator was becoming alarmingly even. Times were definitely changing, going in a direction that could one day completely change the world as we currently knew it.
But the perpetrator could easily be human. The evils that humans do were just as bad as anything paranormal. People can be afraid of werewolves and goblins or anything that upsets their idea of nice, safe normality. But the cold, hard facts were that humans also feared humans. You only had to look to the government and the Conclave to understand that.
“Lars is focused on manticores at the moment,” I said, breaking a moment of silence, “but I don’t think so. They eat everything, not just suck out bones. The unlocked door has got me stumped. If the Visser’s front door wasn’t locked like Mr. Visser said, then she was either taken, or she left in a hurry. But that doesn’t sit right with me.”
“She could’ve gone out for fresh air,” Jake offered. “Maybe she smoked. Did she smoke?”
“I didn’t ask. I need more time with him.”
“When are they gonna tell him she’s dead?”
“Lars will let me know as soon they’re ready for him to come and identify the body.”
“That’s fucking horrible.” His voice cracked a little. He’d witnessed his late husband’s murder. This would be close to home. But I didn’t press him on it.
He gulped back the rest of his tea before speaking again, no more cracks in his voice. “What about witches? Warlocks? Is this some kind of sick ritual to get a spell going?”
“Could be. I’ll get researching,” I said.
“Okay. I’ll search online for my two new friends.”
I couldn’t help but smile at his sarcasm. “The pepernoten looks so good, by the way.”
“Wait ‘til you try one.”
“Now?”
“Go for it.”
After devouring five pepernoten and rejoicing with Louise in her getting to level seventeen on her game, I went upstairs to the study. The cup of tea had eased his nerves. Tea had a magic of its own.
Dr. Geels had emailed me a copy of her report, detailing all the weirdness in medical speak, concluding with that she believed this was a supernatural creature that had removed the bones of Mrs. Visser, though there was no trace of any foreign or unexplained DNA. The only other thing she did find was extremely high sugar content in the blood—probably from those candy canes Mr. Visser had mentioned. Nothing had been caught on the station cameras, and no one using the metro had seen a thing until the body had been discovered.
That made no sense. It wasn’t exactly a quiet spot.
The study was a much tidier place than the offices of Jake & Dean Investigations. Books were in order, the walls were light blue and not cracking, and there was a distinct lack of chaos. The chair was also super-comfy, good for the back with its orthopedic structure for those who sat for long stretches—not like the hard, wooden chairs of the workplace.
“Goedenavond, Dean,” Mila answered the phone.
“Hallo. I need to ask a favor.”
“What is it?”
“We need some more wards for the house. We had a visit from a potential new enemy.”
“That is dreadful. Do you have any idea who she was?”
“Unfortunately, not.”
“I will come to your home first thing in the morning.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to interfere with any plans you
