The sheriff nodded, then he went over to examine Winston.
“Son of…” Grady’s words trailed off as he rubbed his forehead. “Why did it have to be one of our kind?”
Gideon’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything.Me?I wanted to ask heaps more questions, starting with what he meant byone of our kind? What kind was that? I managed to keep my mouth shut.Barely. Now wasn’t the time. The sheriff crouched by the body and studied it. Then he searched it quickly and efficiently. Grady’s dark skin against the dead man’s made Winston’s look all the paler and grayer.
I wanted to shout at Grady to wait for the coroner or the medical examiner or something… because I’d watched a lot of mystery shows with my mother, and that was always a thing they talked about. But obviously, these magical people did things differently, and who was I to correct the police on their techniques? I clamped my mouth shut, but then I remembered something…
“Wait. Could he still be alive? Aren’t wooden stakes used to kill uh…them? That isn’t wooden. If we remove the crystal…”
“It might have been possible for him to survive being stabbed, but not when it’s through the heart,” Elwood explained quietly.
“I’ll have to manage which of my deputies comes to the scene.” When Grady stood again, he heaved out a sigh, making his barrel of a chest rise and fall. “You sure you want this in the system, Gideon?”
What the–? Why on earth was the sheriff deferring to the pub owner? So much for my imagining Grady was the authority around here. And was he seriously asking if they should cover this up? Oh, or was this because of the magic thing? Was there a separate process for magical people?
“Winston’s been murdered. Since we don’t know if a human or a supe killed him, we’ll need your resources to solve this,” Gideon said with a sharp nod.
I blinked. I really needed to find a place to sit. Somewhere I could guzzle a dozen old-fashioneds and come to terms withfinding out about magic and discovering a murder victim in the same morning. Finding Josh in bed with a sweaty naked stranger yesterday was nothing compared to this.
Because if the local police were talking about magic… that made it all the more real.
Another person charged into the shop next. What was it with all these people?
“What’s going on? Grady? Why are you here? Are you finally here to fine Winston like I’d asked?” Leon, the committee chair from last night, demanded. Then he saw the body. His eyes bulged. “Is that Winston Wilcox? But he was just fine at the meeting last night.”
“What meeting?” Grady asked.
“I didn’t think your kind died.” Leon ignored Grady’s question as he retreated a step and tugged his sweater vest down. The guy must have a full closet of those vests. He swallowed so hard it was audible. Last night hadn’t ended well between Winston and Leon. We all knew that.
“Don’t.” Gideon growled the word. I expected him to end withbe an asshole,or something like that, but he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t need to when that single word already had Leon taking a step back.
After Leon was several feet away from Gideon, he lifted his chin and puffed out his chest. “You need to remember who you’re talking to.”
“You might be human, but you know supernaturals aren’t all the same. Besides, I think you’ll find most people will die when they’ve been stabbed through the heart.” Gideon reiterated what Elwood had just finished telling me in a deep and growly voice.
“An emergency festival meeting,” Elwood offered when Leon didn’t answer.
“So, we need to track his movements after the meeting,” the sheriff said. “I’ll need to get more people down here. And you allneed to get out of my crime scene. But don’t go too far. I need to get statements from everyone.” He glanced down at the body and rubbed his forehead again.
“We all know who did it,” Leon announced as he wiped a sheen of sweat from his bald head.
We did?
Leon pointed at Elwood. “The murder weapon is a crystal from his shop. Ergo…”
Elwood held up his hands as if to ward off the accusation. “Hey now… I didn’t kill him.”
Sheriff King considered Elwood. “Where were you after the meeting?”
My heart pounded. Was Elwood going to tell the truth? If he lied and said he was home all night, I’d have to lie too. Say I was with him. Could I do it? I was a terrible liar. I rubbed my palms on my pants.
Elwood opened his mouth to answer, but Leon beat him to it.
“I saw him walk down the street about half an hour after the meeting ended,” Leon blurted.
“Is that true?” Sheriff King asked. “Where did you go?”
“It is true,” Elwood said. “I can’t say where I went. It’s a private matter.”
