“I’ll need to see it, maybe test the handwriting.”
“Okay.”
Gabriel pulls a photo from his jacket and slides it across the table. “Do you recognize him?”
Hiram glances at the ordinary man with a sandy beard and matching hair. “No.”
“That’s Dr. Simpson.” Gabriel lowers his voice. “I don’t know where he fits in yet, but I assume it’s somewhere. If you see him, don’t call the enforcers. Call me.”
Hiram nods. “Is he dangerous?”
“I’m not sure. He’s been cursed to devolve into madness the more he tries to tell the truth—at least, that’s what he told Veda.” He straightens the salt and pepper shakers. “Did you ever receive Antaris’s boxes from London?”
“I did.”
“Let me guess, I need a search warrant?”
Hiram considers it. “After we’re finished here, you can look. There’s a book that’s obviously Grace’s calledThe Hidden Powers of Rituals and Oddities.She put it in his box to be found, I’ll assume.”
“Given her pattern, yeah, it’s a good assumption.”
“I’ll let you see it if I can ask you a question.”
“Okay.”
“Veda—” Hiram watches Gabriel drain the rest of his coffee in two burning gulps, wincing. “Is shethatdifficult of a topic?”
“You’ve met her.”
Fair point. “Has she always been ...”
“Paranoid? Defensive? That’s the only Veda I’ve ever known. She has her reasons.”
“The home invasion?” Gabriel’s silence is confirmation. Hiram taps his finger on the table. “Did she ever mention how they got in, with the windows and patio door locked?”
“The front door was in pieces,” Gabriel says.
“In the wrong direction.”
“I know, but Veda barely remembers that night. Looking at the file makes her zone out, like she’s reliving it.”
Hiram feels worse about accosting her. “I didn’t get a good look in your office, but if you check, I bet there’s an engaged lock in the rubble. Then ask how the hell someone entered a locked home with an active talisman—”
“That was untouched. Francisco thinks they broke into her house to kill her because of what she witnessed.”
“How did you end up on the Botanist case?” Hiram presses.
“Punishment. We were pushy about a case involving an illegal program of experiments on Seers. We broke up the operation and all but forced the prosecutor to take the case. Everyone involved ended up walking, but we pissed off so many people that they assigned us to a case they thought we’d never solve. We spent six months staring at a dead end until I searched the national database for cases with the same elements, which is how I found the earlier victims ...andVeda’s home invasion. I thought it was a mistake, but after combing through scene photos, magical tests, and the interview with Sabine Dreary, her roommate, who wasn’t home that night, I realized that her home invasion was a lead.”
“How so?”
“Because it was an anomaly. Until Grace’s murder,” Gabriel replies. “Anyway, I learned Veda was in Proventia, and she’s been helping with the case since I contacted her, but pushing her for more details is difficult because it’s easy to see she went through hell.” Empathy softens his voice. “That changes a person.”
Francisco meets them at Hiram’s home.
After a brief search, Hiram hands GabrielThe Hidden Powers of Rituals and Oddities, a photo album, and theBeeyardS rainnote, raising a brow when Gabriel passes the first to Francisco and keeps the other two.
“He’s better with oddities,” Gabriel explains. “And I never forget a face. We’re both not bad at puzzles.”
