Edna’s bright pink lipstick feathered out from her lips, and her perfectly curled hair didn’t even move as she leaned close to me. I had to admire the woman’s style—I didn’t think, even at the top of my lawyer game, that I’d put so much effort into my look.
“I have to admit, I agree with you, but things are a little—er—delicate around here, so please keep your voice—”
I’d been biting my tongue, but I couldn’t hold back my outrage any longer. I cast a scathing look toward the inspector’s office. A lady officer manned the desk just outside, the transom window above the door cracked open. Good. I half hoped he could hear what I had to say—he deserved to know that people weren’t going to just stand by and let him take the best officer on the force off the beat.
I slammed a hand on the desk. “Bon’s an idiot!”
Edna’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off.
“How could he do that? Peter is the most loyal, hardworking, honest cop on the force. Was this because he went to Bon with his suspicions? How stupid do you have to be not to listen to Peter?”
I ignored the sharp looks cast my way by various cops stationed around the room.
Edna looked slightly ill. “Actually… it was Chief Taylor who suspended him.”
I frowned, surprised. “Oh.”
She scrunched up her nose. “And he happens to be standing right behind you.”
Right. Given my luck, of course he was. I licked my lips, scratched my nose, swallowed my pride, and spun around.
The man himself stood a few feet behind me, puffy bags below his eyes, his thick brows low over his intelligent eyes, and a scowl marking deep lines across his brow.
I winced. “Hey….”
“And you are?” His deep, gravelly voice made me forget myself for a moment.
I shook myself, straightened my spine, and forced myself to meet his intense gaze. “Jolene Hartgrave—I’ve been working with Officer Peter Flint as a consultant.”
One of Chief Taylor’s eyes twitched, and he shot a questioning look at Edna behind me.
“She reads animal minds,” Edna filled in.
Taylor’s scowl shifted to a sneer. There it was. That familiar look of such confidence in my abilities. “And you’re here because?”
I sucked in a breath and moved closer to the man. “Peter came to you with his suspicions that Davies was murdered?”
Taylor’s small dark eyes scanned my face. He gave me a curt nod.
“I’m here because I think Peter’s right. I’ve discovered evidence that suggests Davies’s death was no accident. You should reopen the case.”
He stared at me, his expression unreadable for a long moment, then slowly cast a look around the station. We’d drawn quite an audience, and gawking officers suddenly jumped and went back to pretending they were scribbling out paperwork or escorting criminals instead of eavesdropping.
Chief Taylor’s eyes bored into me as he fished around his teeth with his tongue. After several long moments, he blew out a heavy breath. “As Edna has, I’m sure, informed you, I suspended Officer Flint after a call from Emerson Watts. I’m assuming you are the former employee who took part in questioning him?”
So he knew about that, huh? I nodded, my stomach sinking.
Chief Taylor shifted on his feet. “So, I’m sure you understand I had no choice but to suspend Office Flint after such an egregious breach of police protocol.”
I opened my mouth to say Peter hadn’t know about my former professional relationship with Emerson, that it was my fault, but he cut me off.
“At the same time, Flint’s job is on the line, and this is an officer’s death we’re discussing, which is the only reason I’m willing to hear you out.”
Behind me, Edna coughed. I spun to face her and frowned at her expression. She flashed her eyes at me—she seemed like she was trying to communicate something. But what? A pair of officers dragged a struggling man with stringy hair up to the front desk, and Edna bit her lip, hesitating, then spun to address them.
“My time is valuable, Miss Hartgrave.”
I turned back to face Chief Taylor, who raised a single, pointed brow.
“So if you have this evidence, you’d better lay it out. Now!”
I jumped, but still, hesitated. Could I confide in this man? I thought of Peter. He’d been suspicious of something going on at the station, but at the same time, Chief Taylor seemed the only person able to give Peter his job back.
I nodded. “Alright. Davies owed money, a lot of it, to Bora Kang, who runs the Golden Tide gambling hall in the Darkmoon District.”
Chief Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know this?”
I thought of my inelegant scramble on all fours out of the back room after the poker game turned to an all-out brawl. I touched my temple and tried for an airy tone. “I have my ways.”
He grunted but waited for me to go on.
“Bora Kang said Davies paid her back a good chunk of it a few months ago, which lines up with when Davies killed that witness.”
Taylor scowled. “The one who attacked him while in custody?”
I gulped. “Unless… he didn’t. The guy didn’t have a history of violence, and he was in custody as a witness, not as a suspect. What would his motive be?”
“Motive?” Taylor scoffed. “What motive would he need? He’s a criminal. Maybe he was hopped up on potions or just wanted revenge or had an episode. Who knows what’s going through the minds of these filthy criminals.”
I rolled my eyes. The police had such narrow viewpoints sometimes. “Okay, or Davies attacked first and injured himself, making it look like self-defense.”
It was Taylor’s turn to get annoyed. He shook his head at me. “And again—what’s the motive?” He took a step to the side. “I’m done.”
I side-stepped in front of him, blocking his way. “Emerson Watts paid Davies handsomely to do this. He needed the witness
