‘They’re notsupposed to be. But … what else would you call Bob?’
We all looked at the floating cup of tea hanging in mid-air. I reached out and took it.
‘I’ve got it, thanks,’ I said, and the weight fell into my hand as Bob released it. I took a casual sip. ‘It’s no big deal.’ Setting the mug down, I dived pointedly into my waffles.
‘It’s abitof a big deal,’ Ji-ho muttered, staring unblinkingly at where the mug had been. After a moment, he cleared his throat and turned back to his computer.
I didn’t want Bob to feel bad. If Bobwasthe only ghost in the world – and not just the only ghost in the world I and Channing and Ji-ho had ever dealt with – I didn’t want to ram it down his throat.
Channing walked around to the other laptop and pulled it towards him to work on Troy’s financials. He scanned the screen intently, and after a few moments he jabbed it in excitement. ‘We’ve got something!’ he said in triumph. ‘On the day of the murder, Troy spent a cool £100 at a florist’s.’
I thought of the bouquet of flowers found dead next to Aspen and murmured, ‘The dead flowers on scene.’
‘Yeah,’ Channing agreed. ‘I’ll call the florists to confirm that Troy bought them.’ He looked at me, eyes gleaming. ‘If he did buy those flowers and they match the descriptionof the ones found dead at the scene, then we know Troy’s story of finding Aspen dead is bogus. The narrative changes. Troy bought healthy flowers, met Aspen while he was still alive, and thenAspen– well, Jingo, I guess, used the dryad’s powers to affect the flowers, making them shrivel and die. And that couldn’t happen if the dryad was already dead.’
‘You’re right, and though it’s certainly persuasive, it’s all circumstantial. It’s not the nail in the coffin we need. And we can’t assume anything. Maybe Troy bought some other flowers for his mum.’
Still, I couldn’t deny this rang true for me. A dryad’s powers were capable of interacting with plants, and it was completely up Jingo’s street to use such powers to cause the flowers to wither and die.
‘Jingo once said that his handle on his dryad powers wasn’t great,’ I commented, turning it over in my mind. That at least meant he hadsomedryad powers at his fingertips.
‘He doesn’t need a good handle on it to shrivel a few flowers,’ Channing said.
He was almost certainly right. ‘All right. Run it down.’
‘I’ll call the florist.’ He walked off and did so. I could hear him introducing himself, rattling off his badgenumber and confirming what Troy Fairglass had bought on the day in question.
I cut into my waffles and chewed quietly. The room remained silent, all eyes on the detective while we waited for some evidence to fall into place.
‘Zinnias?’ Channing repeated, grinning. ‘Thanks for your help.’ Channing gave a fist pump as he hung up. ‘We’ve got him, sir! Troy bought the bouquet of zinnias, the exact same type found dead on the scene! This proves it. Jingo used Aspen’s powers to kill the flowers, and I’m betting he goaded Troy into killing him. Since he was found on Kate’s lawn, it’s not a stretch to assume that Jingo threatened Kate and Fairglass put an end to it – permanently.’
I nodded. ‘I agree that’s the likeliest scenario, but we need more evidence. It’s a solid start. Keep looking.’
‘That deep background search on Jude Jingo is running,’ Ji-ho said. ‘What else do you need?’
‘It would be rude not to use all three computers.’ I winked. ‘I need to know about doppelgangers. Specifically, if anyone has ever survived one of their hostile takeovers.’
Ji-ho bobbed his head in thought. ‘That’s a specific set of circumstances all right. Leave it with me. This one might take a while.’ He looked at the time, then at Channing.Ji-ho coughed. ‘You know?’ he said. ‘I’m not feeling so well either. I’d better call in sick.’
‘There’s a horrible bug going around the office,’ Channing agreed solemnly.
The tech whizz smirked. ‘What a shame.’
‘I’ve got something,’ Channing said a while later. ‘On the day of the murder, Fairglass dropped some cash in City Gate.’
City Gate was a menswear shop on Bridge Street.
Channing stood. ‘I’ll go and speak to the employees, see if I can find out what he bought. It might not be anything, but it’s better to be thorough.’
He was quoting me, I realised with a pleased smile.
‘You can’t go, Channing,’ Robbie asserted. ‘You’re supposed to be sick, and City Gate is right by your office. If Thackeray or Faraday see you, you’ll be facing a disciplinary.’
‘The chances of them seeing me are small,’ Channing argued, looking faintly nervous.
‘I’ll go,’ Robbie insisted.
‘You’re not with the Connection,’ Channing protested. ‘They won’t speak to you.’
