Patrick lies across the alley at an awkward angle, his glassy eyes peering up at me. A smear of blood mars his perfect cheekbone, and he has a pair of fresh puncture wounds in his neck.
I scream.
THE NEVERMORE MURDER CLUB AND SMUTTY BOOK COVEN GROUP CHAT
Isis: LADIES, DROP WHAT YOU’RE DOING. THERE’S BEEN ANOTHER MURDER!
Celeste: We know, Isis. We’re all RIGHT HERE, waiting to give our statements to the police.
Beth: Well, Arabella isn’t here. She never comes to these village things.
Arabella: That’s because I haven’t been hit over the head by the village pride stick. Do you need me, or can I stay tucked up in bed?
Isis: We’re fine, Arabella. We’ll message you if any of us need bail money. Sorry, I figured that it would be easier to talk in our chat so the police don’t hear our theories.
Isis: There’s no denying that it’s a vampire. We all saw those fang marks. Danny’s killerhas struck again.
Komal: We know, Isis. We shouldn’t all be on our phones like this. It might look suspicious.
Isis: Why? No one suspects us. Well, maybe Beth.
Arabella: Beth is rather shady.
Maisie: Beth doesn’t have an alibi. She wasn’t at her booth when Winnie screamed.
Beth: Hey, leave me out of this! I went to my car to get some more of my elixirs. They’d been selling really well until the murderer had to come along and ruin everything.
Komal: At least you’ll still have a job after this! My first year as the chair of the Midsummer Festival and I’ve got a dead body. Councillor Durant will never let me within three feet of a village event again!
Dora: Panicking isn’t going to do us any good.
Mina: Dora’s right. We need to approach this rationally. We don’t want to miss any important clues that could help us unmask the killer at the ball. Maisie, see if you can get any useful information out of the police. I’ll go chat to my friend Jo, the medical examiner. Isis and Dora, do you have eyes on our main suspect?
Dora: She’s standing over by the church, talking to that developer fellow from Sanctus Estate.
Winnie: His name’s Gideon Blake. He’s a friend of Alaric. Well … I’m not sure if “friend” is the right term.
Dora: Are youdoing okay, Winnie?
Winnie: I’m shaken up, but I’m okay. I’m worried about Claire. She must be so upset.
Beth: Why do you care about the harlot? I thought we hexed her?
Maisie: BETH!
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
WINNIE
Faye: You’re mad, Winnie. Why are you staying in a dusty old castle when we have a literal TV show in the works? Sometimes I just don’t understand you.
I’m nearly asleep on my feet by the time the police secure the scene and get around to interviewing me about discovering Patrick’s body. Alaric remains by my side the whole time, filling in details about our evening that I can’t remember. The image I hold in my mind is Patrick’s pale face frozen in terror and those two bloodied fang marks in his neck.
Patrick – I’m so, so sorry.
We have to catch this killer before they get anyone else.
“—and where were you around the time Ms Preston found the deceased’s body?” DS Wilson’s pen whirls across her pad.
