I shuddered. Indeed.
“The magic requires that time.” Frank lifted the death sketches, mouth turned down. “Terrible business.”
“Thank you, Frank.” I forced the steady calm I had mastered to deal with any situation involvingthem.“We must leave before Dresden arrives, but please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.”
“It was no problem, Master Noble. Always available to help with your cases—especially the ones like mine. The ‘Protector,’ we call you.”
Would I retain that goodwill were my past to become common knowledge—with four dead women from it lying in the coroner’s office on a table or in a pot?
I forced a smile. “The mistress will tease my arrogance for a week.”
Frank smiled at Marietta. “I’m sure that whatever you need help with will be resolved soon. Problems always are when Master Noble is involved.”
Such faith. I had developed the network to make sure those who sought help would not find themselves in the same position I had once found myself.
Helpless.
I covered another involuntary shudder by gripping the door handle. Everything was coming full circle.
I strode from the room, Marietta following behind.
“Did you learn anything from the sketches?” she asked, completely in the dark, trusting me like they all trusted me—not knowing that she could be the first I betrayed.
“Age, physical characteristics—anything that might tie the victims together.” It wasn’t a lie.
“And?”
“They mostly look to be the same age. I will see if I can get someone to copy and discreetly circulate sections of the sketches to discover more about them.”
I wasn’t sure I was going to do any such thing. I didn’t want anyone to recognize the victims. I couldn’t believe no one hadyet, even though, at the same time, I would have been hard pressed to identify them myself if I hadn’t been presented with pictures of the matched set.
The Vein Ripper wasmakingthem unrecognizable.
“Shouldn’t Dresden be doing that?”
“Maybe he is. Spells used for obfuscation are hard to break. And most people want to pretend this sort of crime can’t exist.” The murders were gruesome to a people who prized magic and hereditary markers, both. Ripping the spiritual veins from a person was akin to destroying their soul.
Why hadn’t anyone claimed them missing, though?
I should have received word concerning Iris’s marriageimmediately. And her goingmissing? What was my investigatordoing?
I balled my fists. The man was paid exorbitantly to keep track of their whereabouts so that I could forget all about them—unless one was up to her old tricks. I had dealt with those swiftly and financially. Which was a reason a few of them might not have been missed yet—tossed from society and penniless as they were.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn’t see the man step forward until I trod on his foot. I cursed when his face came into view, moving to sidestep him.
“Going somewhere, Master Noble?” Arthur Dresden’s expression wavered between satisfied and enraged.
“Finally figured it out, Dresden? Congratulations. Now, if you’ll pardon us.” I reached a hand behind to Marietta and stepped around. The main door and freedom were only twenty paces away.
The inquisitor stepped in my path again. “I don’t think so. I have questions, you see.”
“How extraordinary for you. But you can’t detain us here. We’ll be on our way.”
“You think I cannot detain you?”
“I know you cannot, inquisitor.” Some people might be scared by an inquisitor and the tactics they used, but I knew all their codes. All the laws concerning them. Unfortunately for the man in front of me.
Dresden’s gaze was scorching. “I’ve heard all about you. Using the law as you desire. Bribing people to do yourjustice. The law is not to be trifled with. I will be watching you, Noble, make no mistake.”
