The coroner nodded and let the sheet drop. “Will I be handin’ over my preliminary findings now?”
Peter nodded. “Please.”
Gabriel snapped his fingers, and a manila folder magically appeared in his hand—well, hovering right above it. His gloves were bloody, after all. Peter reached out and took it, then flipped it over. Photographs of the bite, as well as a several page report, lay inside.
Peter closed the folder and waved it at Gabriel. “Thanks so much. Let me know when you hear back about the venom, will you?”
“Course, lad.” The coroner bowed his head. “Pleased to meet ya, Jolene.”
I gulped, my stomach still unsettled and threatening to rise into my throat. “You, too,” I managed to squeak out.
I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as we were back out in the dark stone hallway of the station’s basement. “So what now?” I walked alongside Peter and Daisy back toward the stairs.
Peter took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I think we need to go find that crew member who let Cid Johannsen onto the runway.”
I nodded. “Now that we have good reason to suspect murder, we need to speak with anyone who had access to Bel Hahn during the show.”
Peter grinned.
I frowned up at him. “What?”
His smile widened as we reached the stairs. “Nothing, just thinking about the way you interrogated Ms. Johannsen. You make a pretty good bad cop.”
I chuckled and had opened my mouth to retort when we stepped down into the main police room and I spotted a familiar face. I snapped my mouth shut as my eyes found Neo, Ludolf’s captain, standing with his side to us. He leaned over a counter and ran a hand through his slicked-back hair.
“Come on—can’t we get the bail lower?” He spoke to a woman on the other side of the glass window.
Oh, sea goddess. He was probably bailing out one of his goons. If he saw me here, working with Peter—ooh. It would be bad. I raised a hand to the side of my face and grabbed Peter’s forearm, already steering him in the other direction, when Neo’s words made me pause.
“Please? I really need you to lower the bail, because this is only this guy’s second offense.”
I grinned. I’d taught him that. I’d learned early on that grown-ups were much more likely to do what you asked of them if you gave them a reason, any reason.
I chuckled when he said, “Hey, you from the island? Me, too. A local!” That’d been another one of my moves—find something in common with the person you were persuading—some common ground.
Growing up in the orphanage, I’d been the go-to gal for words. I used my words to lie, persuade, cajole, or win anyone over with humor. Kids came to me to get their punishments lightened, fix fights between friends, or convince the lunch lady to give them extra portions. Guess it wasn’t too surprising that I’d become a lawyer.
My grin turned wry. And I supposed it was fitting, in a twisted way, that the curse had taken away all my magical powers… but left me with my words. Now I could speak with anyone and anything.
Peter glanced down at me. “You okay?”
I shook myself, cast one last furtive glance back at Neo, and then guided Peter away from him. “Never better.”
Daisy let out a low growl.
13
CHIN BEARD
To my shock, we found the theater where Bel Hahn’s fashion show had taken place last night still bustling. Crew members dressed all in black, models, designers, and even a few cops milled about.
The black walls, ceiling, and floor of the huge room lent the space a cavernous feeling, still dark even with the house lighting on. Rows of black chairs lined the floor in rising stadium seating, and overhead, men called to each other as they crawled along exposed rigging, and here and there lights flashed as spells were cast.
I raised a brow and blinked my bleary eyes. This girl needed to get back to her apartment to sleep. Didn’t these people sleep? They’d been going all night. I roughly rubbed the heels of my hands against my burning eyes.
“Urg. Let’s find ol’ chin beard and get this over with.”
Peter chuckled, and his eyes crinkled at the corners as he grinned down at me. “C’mon. I thought you were a night owl.”
He nudged me with his shoulder, and I took a moment to shove down the flash of panic that rose up in me. Night owl—it was just a saying; he didn’t know I was an owl shifter.
I managed a smirk. “Yeah, well… it’s late morning. Night was over hours ago.”
Peter grinned but softened his tone. “I appreciate you being here with me.” He cleared his throat and glanced down at Daisy. “With us, I mean.”
I winked. “I expect a full pancake breakfast at the least, with real syrup and—” I stopped when I spotted a guy sporting a black beanie and a scraggly chin beard. “Think I found our guy.” I jerked my chin, and Peter spun to follow my gaze.
The dude had his wand in one hand and a spool of glowing blue cable looped around his other arm and shoulder. He shouted something at another guy dressed in black, shook his head, and then trudged forward, the cable trailing behind.
Peter, Daisy, and I intercepted his path, forcing him to halt. He huffed as he stared at Peter, bags under his eyes. “Don’t tell me we have to stop again.”
“Stop?” Peter folded his arms.
The guy heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Yeah, man, we had to wait all night while you cops combed the place, then every time we got the go-ahead to pack up, somebody needed to collect more evidence and we had to stop.” He rolled his bloodshot eyes. “And squid help us if we
