Peter just continued to stare.
I thumbed at my cop friend. “Well, he is in reality an officer, and we need to talk to you—or whoever the real Ferdinand D’Lin is—okay?”
He bowed again, and I fought, real hard, to not roll my eyes. I mean, I was all for being artsy and experimental, but sometimes you just needed answers. Like—hey, did you kill some ladies a couple nights ago?
The designer stepped forward, palms lifted, as his studio bustled behind him. “Whatever about?”
Peter shook himself, seeming to recover from all the weirdness. “We need to speak to you about the House of Hahn designs that were leaked. Did you have anything to do with that?”
The older man curled his full lip. “Ha. You amuse me.”
Peter looked completely unamused, which made me want to giggle.
“Rumor has it, you and Bel Hahn had quite a feud going. She thought you were responsible for leaking the designs to ruin her show at fashion week.”
The designer rolled a wrist. “Bel Hahn was not even in my universe. Why should I care about her show?”
I shifted on my feet. That jived with what her assistant, Aileen Shen, had told us the other day. She’d admitted that before the rumors of the feud, their line hadn’t been in the same echelon as Ferdinand D’Lin’s.
Peter shrugged. “Maybe you were slipping, so you sought to tarnish her line. Maybe you had a personal issue with her. But when it backfired and the feud only made her more popular, maybe you killed Bel Hahn to get your revenge. And then you killed Li Fan to keep her from telling the truth—that you were the one who’d leaked the plans.”
The designer scoffed, then rested his chin in one palm. “Bel Hahn was a hack. I had no motive, personal or business, to steal her designs, if one could call them that.” He tittered at his own dig, then grew serious, his gaze faraway. “Though, I must admit—recently her designs became quite good. Not sure what changed… I’ll have to look into that.” He threw his head back and let out an ear-piercing squeal.
A young man with a shaved head, also dressed entirely in white, sprinted up from behind him, a quill and scroll hovering magically beside his head. “Yes, master?”
I shot a look at Peter. Master? Creepy….
“Find out who that new talent was that Ms. Hahn brought on.”
The quill took down the note, and the bald assistant backed away, bowing.
Peter frowned. “Alright. Maybe you didn’t leak the designs.”
“I did not.” D’Lin lifted his chin, and Daisy whined.
Truth.
Dang. Until then, he hadn’t directly answered our questions. But if we believed in Daisy’s powers, then he wasn’t the link between Bel Hahn and Li Fan. There went that angle.
Peter looked down at Daisy, and doubt flashed across his features. He straightened and turned back to the designer. “But maybe you killed her after—out of anger at her dragging you into this feud over the designs.”
He shook his head. “First, I’ve got a strong alibi for the night she died. I was here all night working—my whole team can vouch for me.” He swept an arm toward the dozens of people hustling hard behind him. “And on top of it, I tell you, I did not kill her at any time, for any reason.”
Daisy wagged her tail. He tells the truth.
Well, snakes! Guess this guy wasn’t our man. My shoulders slumped. We’d been chasing this thing all over, from the slums to the fashion high street, and back down to the docks again. And we weren’t any closer to having answers.
Peter nodded. “Thank you for your time. I’ll be sending a couple of officers back to take statements from your team, to verify your alibi.”
Ferdinand D’Lin winked. “As you wish.”
I bit my lip. “Is there another way out or do we have to—”
The designer tittered. “You must enter and leave through the maze—”
“—of madness, yeah, we got it.” I rolled my eyes.
As Peter, Daisy, and I strolled back toward the mirrors, I frowned. “Do we even know for sure that Bel Hahn was murdered?” I pulled my lips to the side and shrugged. “I mean, it’d be a big coincidence, but maybe she just got unlucky and was bit by a nasty spider?”
Peter sighed. “Except the venom matched that of Li Fan’s spider.”
I nodded. “Right. Pretty sure someone would have noticed an enormous spider crawling around the runway.”
I frowned as I thought that over. “Hey—could I borrow those pictures from the autopsy?”
We entered the dark fabric part of the maze, and Peter shot me a quizzical look.
“I’m into some freaky stuff.”
He paled.
“I’m joking.” I rolled my eyes. “Just the ones of the spider bite. I’ve got a hunch.”
Peter chuckled and nodded. “It’s typically against procedure, but…”
I batted my lashes at him and clasped my hands.
He chuckled and nudged me. “Sure thing. Just keep it on the down low.”
I grinned up at him. “I’m the picture of discretion.”
Daisy growled. Liar.
20
SPIDER BITE
I shoved the last bit of the hot dog wrapped in bacon into my mouth and leaned back in the chair, chewing with a smile on my face.
Will looked up from his rolling stool. He hunched over the photographs of Bel Hahn’s spider bite, his untouched sushi roll on the metal exam table beside them. I’d gone all the way up to downtown Bijou Mer and spent way too many merkles to bring him his favorite sushi. But it was worth it. I didn’t want my friend to be mad at me… and I also needed a favor.
He curled his lip in disgust. “How can you eat with these right in front of you?” He swept his massive hand over the pictures of the victim’s blackened skin. “At least chew with your mouth closed.”
“Cagn’t.” I worked my jaw. “Bige wag too big.”
He glared at me, then rolled his eyes and glanced back down at the photographs.
Behind him, Heidi perched on the back counter next to bottles of glowing potions. She
