‘Maybe the ogre knelt as he killed Marlow?’ Channing suggested.
‘Maybe.’ Yet I couldn’t imagine an ogre doing anything so deferential as kneeling in a moment like this. It just didn’t jibe. Something wasoff.
Loki let out a loud yawn and fluttered to my side. He pressed himself against my neck. ‘I go home,’ he said. ‘I tired.’
Anxiety sharpened. He’d barely been awake for a couple of hours. I gently lifted him from my shoulder and brought him up to my eye level. ‘Loki, tell me what’s going on with you, or I’ll take you to a human vet who’ll shove a thermometer up your arse.’
I had no idea if that was true or not, but his eyes flew wide at the threat.
‘Not without date,’ the caladrius muttered, making me smile despite my worry. ‘I go home,’ he repeated. He yawned again, and with one last nuzzle against my fingers, he took off, ignoring my demand for more information.
‘Is he all right?’ Channing asked, frowning after him. ‘He looks worse every time I see him. His feathers look droopy and sad.’
‘Oh, something’s definitely up with him, and I’m determined to find out what.’ I looked back at Marlow. ‘For now, let’s focus on the dead.’
I knelt by the body and pointed to the victim’s torso to show Channing the one thing he’d missed. ‘See these marks?’ I pointed to two raised red dots.
‘Yes, ma’am. I just thought they were insect bites.’
I let thema’amgo. ‘Possible, but not likely. My best guess is that a taser was used on the victim – ME to confirm. These are tiny entry marks. The killer needed Marlow stunned so they could cuff and kill him before he reached his magic. There’s no blackened skin, so no drive-stun. Enough to disorient him but not enough to put him down. What does that tell us?’
‘The killer wanted the opportunity to talk to him? Otherwise, they could have sliced his throat where he lay. Instead, he was pulled from the bed and put on the chair.’
‘Exactly.’ I patted his shoulder. ‘Good job. Write it all up.’
He gave a brisk nod but couldn’t quite hide the pleased gleam in his eyes. His first full report. The first of many. Paperwork was one of the worst things about being a cop. The novelty would wear off, but for now, I was more than happy to have him do the paperwork for me. I’d check it and sign off, but his name would be at the bottom.
‘Ma’am,’ Channing started. ‘Wise,’ he corrected himself with a sheepish look. ‘Will you speak to Krieg?’
‘Of course,’ I said coolly. ‘The High King of the Ogres will be one of our first ports of call – but first, I need to pass the death message.’
He winced. ‘Marlow’s got a kid.’
‘Yeah,’ I sighed. ‘He does.’
We both knew first-hand how hard it was to lose a parent, though neither of us had suffered that particular loss as young as Frankie. It would colour the rest of his life, and my heart ached for him.
I didn’t know enough about Theodore Marlow to know whether he deserved the brutal ending he’d met, but for his son, I’d get to the bottom of this sordid affair and get him justice.
I could give the kid that much.
Chapter Two
Ada Marlow lived several hours away from Chester, so I reluctantly arranged for a local inspector, Inspector Darling, to pass the death message in person. It wasn’t long before he rang me to let me know the outcome.
Normally I called fellow Inspectors by their surnames, like Bland, but doing so with Darling always felt awkward. ‘Inspector Darling,’ I said as I answered. ‘What have you got for me?’
‘Wise,’ he began briskly. We’d dealt with each other a time or two, and he was one of the good ones. ‘The widow was dry-eyed upon notification but visibly shocked. She said they had been separated for two years following some infidelity on the part of the deceased. He begged her not to divorce him while he continued his term on the Symposium, political picture and all that. She agreed to wait, but he paid maintenance to her and visited their son, Frankie, every other weekend at best, more infrequently at worst.’
‘Any other contact with the kid? Telephone calls?’
‘None.’
I grimaced. Marlow wasn’t going to win any Father of the Year awards.
‘Any issues she knows about? Any enemies?’
‘She became distressed at that juncture of the interview and insisted on verifying the death for herself. She will make arrangements to come to Chester to view the body, whereupon she would like to meet the lead investigator. I gave her your details.’
