‘No indeed.’ I nodded. ‘Which is why none of them are in an interview room. Yet. But if the ogre marksweresimulated, then we have to look at who would benefit from framing the ogre community. The Anti-Crea have been quiet lately, ever since Emory Prime Elite decimated their ranks. Maybe they want the limelight again. Maybe they need to recruit to fill the hole.’
‘Why would the Anti-Crea want to kill Teddy? He was an elemental,’ Faraday pointed out, and I didn’t miss the familiarity of calling the deceased by his first name.
‘That, I’ll need to dig into. But his death made a splash, that’s for sure.’ As had his guts on his bedroom floor.
‘All right,’ Thackeray said. ‘Everything else is on the back burner. We want the full attention of every member of Unit 13 on this. Get your team to wrap up their existing cases or set them aside.’
Justice might be blind, but murder someone important and everyone else got to wait. It didn’t sit well with me, but I nodded all the same. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘And talking of Unit 13,’ Thackeray said gruffly. ‘We’ve closed the deal with the vampyr who owns 1 Bridge Street. Our lease commences tomorrow. We’ll worry about moving the unit when this case is closed.’
‘Noted. Permission to requisition Ji-ho’s time and expertise for the Marlow case also?’ He wasn’t permanently attached to Unit 13 yet, but I fully intended to change that.
Faraday nodded, hands clasped loosely behind his back. ‘Granted. Find the killer, Wise. Quickly.’
I stood. ‘I’m on it.’
‘See that youallare. And Wise?’ Faraday called as I reached for the door. ‘Lethal force on this one. We have had a quorum. The Symposium is eager to send a message. You’ve got a green light for any kill orders you think are merited and any collateral damage that is deemed acceptable.’
This was the bit of my job I hated the most. Collateral damage wasneveracceptable in my eyes. I kept my face expressionless but nodded stiffly. ‘Yes, sir.’
I had killed when needed – would do so again – but only when I was sure. Not even Faraday or Thackeray would speed my hand until then. I’d find the killer, but I’d do it right, andthenI’d mete out the justice required of me.
And I’d deal with the nightmares that followed.
Chapter Twelve
I picked up Loki from Channing and asked my partner to send a SPEL notification to all of Unit 13 and bring them up to date on the case. McCaffrey was off today moving house, and Elvira and Bland were in an interview with a domestic abuser who’d finally gone too far and killed his long-suffering wife over the fact she’d made him apple pie instead of crumble.
While I waited for them to tie that up, I went to visit Ji-ho. Loki fluttered along beside me in incognito mode, though I could still hear the soft flutter of his wings if I focused on it.
Ji-ho was alone in the tech office, with ever-present K-pop playing out of his phone’s tinny speakers, but where the music was normally blaring, today it was so quiet you could hear a mouse fart over it. Ji-ho sat stiffly at his desk, shoes on and utterly still as he studied some footage on the numerous screens spread around him like a futuristic dome.
The smell of coffee was fresh and heavy in the air, but half-drunk cups also littered the normally neat office. I could tellLoki had perched on one of the office chairs because it swivelled slightly as he landed.
‘Hey,’ I greeted Ji-ho softly. ‘How’s it going?’
He turned in his chair and smiled weakly. ‘Shirlylock,’ he croaked. ‘How’s things?’
‘I asked you first,’ I murmured. I studied the man. ‘Hey. You look like shit. You want to talk about it?’
He grimaced. ‘The kidnapping, the nightmares, or the all-consuming anxiety it’s left me with?’
I sat in the chair opposite him. ‘Yes.’
‘Which?’
‘Which one do you want to talk about?’
‘None of them!’ In an explosive move he stood up and shot over to the coffee machine where he started on yet another cup. ‘You want one?’ he offered, not looking at me.
I was more of a tea girl, but agreed. ‘Sure.’
He began to make me a coffee, and I could at least appreciate the smell even if the taste wasn’t for me.
‘Milk, sugar?’ he asked abruptly.
‘No, I’m good.’ Coffee tasted like shit no matter what you added to it. Its sole value was the handy caffeine it could pump through my veins.
