I frowned at him. What kind of veterinarian got so angry at a dog and smoked in the enclosure of a creature as rare as a phoenix?
Peter straightened, and Daisy circled around until she stood with her side pressed against his leg. “Daisy was just looking for you. Where’d everyone go?” Peter’s eyes dropped to the large nest. “And what are you doing in here alone?”
Mark took another drag of his cigarette, then leveled Peter with a flat look. “Your colleagues took off with the bodies and told me not to go anywhere—so I figured I’d make myself useful and see if I could locate our missing phoenix.” He gestured at the circle of sticks and mud. “This is her nest.” A few fiery red feathers clung to the inside of the nest.
I crinkled my nose. The humid air smelled of sour cigarette smoke, charcoal, and a warm, musky bird smell. I’d noticed it on myself and other owls before when I could still shift. I sniffed again and found it weirdly comforting, though I guessed the burnt smell was unique to phoenixes.
Peter nodded. “I appreciate you sticking around—we actually do have some more questions for you.” He glanced around at the vines, trees, and ferns that crowded close to us. “First up—have you found the phoenix or any clues as to where it might be?”
Mark sniffed and rolled his dark eyes. “None. It’s like she just up and disappeared.”
Peter frowned. “The bird couldn’t have gotten out the open door while you and Quincy were distracted with the victims?”
Mark shook his head and blew out a puff of smoke. “If she was loose anywhere around here and burst into flames, you’d know it.”
Yeesh. I made a face up at Peter. “Nobody’s called in any spontaneous hell fires?”
His lips twitched like he was fighting a grin. “Not yet, at least.”
Mark pointed his cigarette at me. “It’s no joke, from what I understand, when a phoenix combusts and then is born again from the flames.”
I arched a brow. “From what you understand? You haven’t seen it in person?”
The vet shook his head.
Peter cocked his head, the large nest still on the ground between us and Mark. “So you weren’t the sanctuary’s veterinarian for the last phoenix rebirth party?”
Mark scowled at Peter. “That was fifty years ago—how old do I look to you?”
I bit back a smile as my boyfriend’s throat bobbed and his cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. The vet looked like he was in his fifties to me, fairly trim, though his stomach stuck out from his lab coat a bit, and only a few lines showed around his eyes. That was probably a fair reaction on his part.
I stepped forward and tried to distract Mark from taking offense. “So you never met Malorie’s first husband, Richard?”
He sniffed. “Nope. She hired me on after he’d already ‘disappeared.’” He made air quotes around the last word. “Worked for her about fourteen years now.”
Interesting how Mark mentioned working for Malorie—not Quincy. It seemed the new widower had been telling the truth when he said his wife didn’t share a lot of the business responsibilities with him.
Peter lifted a thick brow. “You don’t believe Malorie’s husband went missing?”
Mark snorted. “I think someone knows where he is.”
Did he think that someone was his recently deceased boss? “Some people think Malorie dumped his body in the phoenix’s cage during the party fifty years ago. Could the flames from the phoenix’s rebirth have completely destroyed bone and all evidence?”
Mark took a dramatic drag of his cigarette, then leveled me a serious look. “Anything in that cage—bone, cast iron, shell, probably even that volcanic rock—it would have all been completely obliterated by those flames.”
Well, that answered that. Not a bad way to dispose of a body, if that was your goal.
Peter cleared his throat. “When was the last time you saw the phoenix?”
Mark leaned his shoulder against a vine covered tree trunk. “A couple hours ago, at the start of the party.”
Daisy wagged her tail and whined. All true so far.
Peter looked around. “Why did you enter through the sanctuary door and not the ballroom side, where Quincy came in?”
Mark took a drag, then blew the smoke out. “I was already in the back, on hand in case anything went wrong when the phoenix did her thing.” He rolled the hand that held the cigarette. “Though, in reality, I have no idea what I would’ve been able to do. The flames engulf the entire enclosure and burn so hot we had to have special enchantments cast to contain them.”
Peter raised a brow. “You were waiting in the back behind the enclosure all night?”
“Nah.” The vet shook his head. “I was out there, partying, for most of the night. Just went to the back door a few minutes before I heard Quincy take the stage.”
“And while you were there you didn’t see anyone enter or leave?”
Smoke poured from Mark’s nostrils. “Nope.”
Daisy wagged her tail. True.
Peter shifted on his feet. “And was the door locked before you entered?”
“Yep. I had to unlock it before I could rush inside.” Mark sighed. “I checked Malorie’s vitals first.” He shook his head. “Dead. As was the other chick.”
I arched a brow. “You don’t have any idea who that other woman is?”
Mark scoffed. “None. I’d like to know who the shell she is and how she got in here.”
I sniffed. Yeah, Mark, you and me both.
Daisy’s tail wagged. True.
Peter licked his lips. “So you have no idea how the phoenix either escaped or was smuggled out?”
Mark took another drag, looking too calm for my liking. I
