“I believe all these events – the arrival of Maeve, the five of you – all good friends – all holed up here at the castle instead of participating in village life, the tragic geological event at the church, the appearance of the statue – has ignited some long-held superstitions about Briarwood and her inhabitants.”
“Motives are all fine and dandy, officer, but I want to know what’s been done about the crimes that were committed.”
“We’ve identified five of the main instigators, and will be pressing charges within the next few days. The others have been allowed their freedom, under the condition they stay off the Briarwood property and don’t bother you or your friends. Given the level of remorse about the act and the death of Corbin Harris, I have no reason to suspect they’ll be a further problem.”
I nodded. It was a good thing Arthur wasn’t here. He’d be raving about how jail wasn’t good enough, how they should be strung up by their bollix with rusty fishing wire for what they’ve done.
Then I remembered Arthur’s lifeless body in that hospital bed, and I hated myself for thinking it. I’d rather have that big guy storming around setting fire to shit any day.
Wallace seemed to have Arthur on his mind, too. “I need to warn you, members of the public saw your friend Arthur swinging a sword around. Under normal circumstances I’d have to haul him in and confiscate the weapon. Since no one was hurt beyond a few minor burns and cuts and some hallucinations, and your home was burned down, I’m going to be lenient. But don’t let me hear about him doing that again.”
“I promise you won’t,” I said darkly. If Arthur survived the wound he’d given himself, Maeve and I were going to make sure we took every last sword or dagger out of the castle and threw them back to the Lady of the Lake. “What of Corbin Harris? Will anyone be charged with his murder?”
“It’s early days yet, mate. We haven’t even got the pathologist’s report from the coroner yet.” Wallace scratched his head. “Eye witness accounts say they saw a guy in a strange black outfit stab Harris. Two men in green threw him on the fire and then slid him onto the spike. Any ideas who they might be?”
“Someone in the village, I presume. Isn’t that you job, sir?”
“No one we questioned that night matched their descriptions, but we’re still looking. It doesn’t help that all our eyewitnesses seem to be affected by the hallucinogenic vapours in the black cloud. We’ve been told all sorts of wild stories, let me tell you! I’ve got the geologists taking samples at the meadow and comparing them to those at the church. I’m convinced the two events are related.”
“If you say so, sir.” I jiggled my leg against the table, trying to keep my voice even. I didn’t want Judge to see how much the idea of Corbin’s body lying on a slab being dissected was getting to me. “When will you do the autopsy?”
“Within the next day or so. We’ll contact you when we’re finished, and you can arrange with your funeral home to collect his remains. In the meantime, if you have any problems with people in the village, let me know. We’ll be keeping you updatedas the case progresses, and you may be asked to testify.” He glanced at the window toward the gates. Cameras flashed at the house, and people waved their arms through the bars in the gate, like the flesh-eating zombies in my favourite video game. I suppose, in a way, they were out for flesh. “In the meantime, keep a low profile. That meansexactlythe opposite of hanging out with Ryan Raynard after he releases a new painting that features witches as the subject matter and brings a media circus to Crookshollow.”
“Gotcha,” I clicked my fingers at him.
Wallace stood. “I suppose we should go out and move the media along. No chance of speaking with Mr Raynard himself? I’ve heard some stories about this house, let me tell you?—”
“I need to use the bathroom,” Judge announced, her eyes boring into mine.
“When we’re back at the station,” Wallace said.
“It’s urgent.”
A pained expression crossed Wallace’s face, as if he knew the conversion all-too-well. I wondered if he had daughters.
“I’ll show you where it is.” I got to my feet and led Judge down the hall, in what I hoped was the direction of a bathroom.
As soon as we turned the corner, Judge grabbed my collar. “What’s going on?” she demanded. “Am I going crazy?”
I shrugged. “Are you?”
“Don’t pull that bullshit with me, O’Hagan. I’ve seen way too much weird stuff over the last couple of weeks. First those babies go missing and found on your property, then twenty-two people are swallowed by a weird black fog after fighting with three-foot-tall furry monsters with knives made of bones.Thena statue of a witch appears in the village and gets everyone scared and desperate.”
“Bit of a shite week, aye? I could do with a whiskey?—”
She continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “I stood in the Briarwood courtyard while a battle raged in my mind – one voice in my head screaming at me to kill the witches, the other telling me to go home and crawl into bed with a cup of tea. Next thing I’m crouched in a field trying to call for backup on a phone that won’t work while creatures that weren’t human burned a guy and shoved him on astake. Your friend Maeve touched my face and I saw my own worst fears as reality flashing before my eyes. It wasn’t a hallucination – for that moment is wasreal. I lived in my nightmares. People had thoughts planted inside their heads that weren’t their own. This can’t continue, you hear that? I need to know what’s going on and I don’t want any more fibbing or nonsense about geology.”
“What’s the point? You won’t believe me.”
Judge jabbed a finger in the direction of the drawing room. “Hewon’t believe you. His brain ain’t set up that way. But I’m no idiot. I’ve lived in Crookshollow my entire life. This village is superstitious with good reason. Itisthe most haunted village in England. My grandma’s house has a resident ghost, and if you’d seen some of the weird shit that went on down at the precinct…The point is, I’ve got an open mind and Iknowwhat I’ve seen can’t be explained by science. I’m right, aren’t I?”
I nodded. “I’m guessing we don’t have time for a long explanation. So here’s the short version: Those guys you saw in the green and black, with the bows and arrows, the ones that killed Corbin? They’re fae. Fairyfolk.”
Judge’s eyes widened. “They didn’t have wings.”
“There are lots of different types of fae. Some of them have wings. Some have claws. Some are three-foot tall and covered with fur. Those ones were court fae – think Tolkien elves, only more evil.”
“And these fae, what’ve they got against you and your friends? Why’d they kill Corbin Harris?”
