The sturgeon had come from a breeding program meant to reintroduce the endangered species back into the wild. Most of the aquarium’s residents, many of them highly illegal to own without a permit, were slated in some shape or form for conservation and population recovery.
Lucifer followed me around like a demented puppy, but I tolerated his presence because he understood the importance of coffee and kept bringing us fresh cups when we ran out.
“Why haven’t you left yet?” I finally asked the Devil.
“I’m waiting for the CDC to swallow their pride and admit they want to ask me for help running this place. And they will. It’s hugely entertaining watching you try to do your job while the CDC and FBI hover. I’ve been asked to give a performance report. I will be forced to give you a most excellent grade. You haven’t tried to throw me into a tank once, and I’m far more annoying than any of the agents bothering you.”
“You’re supposed to be the Lord of Lies, Lucifer.”
“It’s so much work keeping the lies straight,” he complained.
“So, about Alec’s curse,” I prompted, gesturing to the cadet, who had been thoroughly charmed by one of the stingrays, who lived in a pool not far from the hagfish. Upon learning he could pet them and they loved to be petted, I’d lost the cadet to his love of wildlife he could pet.
There was a lovable shark in the neighboring room who lived to be cuddled, and I had been forced to retrieve Alec several times so we could get work done rather than play with the friendlier aquarium residents.
“He has come to terms with the reality he may never know its source or why he drew the short straw. His decision to make the most of his circumstances will ultimately be why he one days frees himself from its burden. While I have learned the source of that mystery, solving the mystery is not what will ultimately break the curse. His choices and decisions will be. While I could tell you who has done it and why, I won’t. That is part of the journey. I can say if he truly wants to discover the truth, it is within his power to find out. But will he want to?”
I could make a guess or two, but I settled with my favorite, and I asked, “Will his willingness to pursue justice be the deciding factor?”
“Yes, but it is a lesson he must learn on his own. It’s not much of a curse if he loves the work he does pursuing justice, is it?” Lucifer shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I don’t enjoy making the undeserving suffer, but I also understand that helping you now would hurt you even more later. It is because I like you and your cadet that I will hold my silence.”
Upon reflection, I realized the Devil had the right idea, and that we could live without knowing the full and complete truth. “If anything, his curse would become a blessing, if his life’s missionisto secure justice for the wronged.”
“You will give voices to the silenced in ways you never thought possible.” The Devil gestured to the collection of aquariums and pools filling the massive room. “This changes the nature of the crime substantially, doesn’t it?”
“It really does. And it’s not a crime we will solve neatly, with every string tied and every clue isolated, confirmed, and used in the pursuit of justice. It might take us years to come down to the bottom of this.” At last count, three hundred people had called the aquarium their home, held hostage with a potent form of practitioner magic that would take an angel to safely break. “I don’t know if we’ll ever solve every element of this case.”
The practitioner, one Thomas Hardy, could no longer undo the chains binding them to their prison. Once freed, I expected the victims would need a great deal of time before they would willingly leave the complex.
Almost all of them had found purpose in their projects, and they didn’t want to abandon the aquarium and the work they’d done over long years separated from their friends and family.
“Hardy’s murder opened a flood gate. But at least his murder can be explained and justice can be found. The murderer will have regrets by the time you finish.” Lucifer looked me over and chuckled. “How do you like your first taste of large-scale crime?”
“I spent all day hoping some kind FBI agent would send me home,” I confessed.
“That will not be happening. Every piece of evidence in this place needs to be catalogued, and as the murder victim is your jurisdiction, you will be in charge of everything. But, think about it this way. You have access to the FBI and the CDC. Help is only a request away if you do not know how to handle something of this scale—and handling something of this scale will teach you many lessons of use down the road. You might say this is part of your fate, just like it is the fate of your cadet to face his curse and its many deaths, none of which will be his own.”
“Well, that’s something.”
“I am slightly concerned with how much enjoyment he is getting from petting that stingray, though.”
I regarded the cadet, chuckling at his open delight. “I’m worried about if I ever have to take him to a zoo. He might want to start petting the big cats. They won’t be nearly as charitable about being touched.”
“My wife becomes a snow leopard, and she isn’t very good at hiding how much she enjoys when someone scratches behind her ears. Arrangements could be made. My daughter becomes a lion, and her husband is a kelpie. If he wants to pet dangerous wildlife, I can provide.”
“Did you just call your family dangerous wildlife?”
“They’re wild, they’re alive, and they’re dangerous, so yes.”
“I’m doing you a favor and not telling your wife you said that.”
“I appreciate that. Thanks.”
As the Devil wouldn’t do my job for me without a bargain, I would spare us both the hassle and avoid asking any questions I would be able to find the answers to in time. However, he tended to drop hints if he felt something would be a waste of time—or he wanted to get his selfish hands on a sinner. “The girlfriend?”
“Has more than earned her visit with me at a later date. Dig deeper with that one.”
Excellent. “I’ll pursue other leads as well. This is not a one-woman or one-man job.”
