“Ihave food and drink set out,” Alfred said as we stepped inside Zane’s foyer. “I’ll bring the cart immediately to Rota’s office.”
“Thank you, Alfred.” I patted my stomach. “Breakfast was a long time ago.”
The ancient fairy chuckled. “Just another reason why you should eat more than peanut butter toast most days.”
I followed Zane down the hallway, past one of the many staircases in the mansion, and at the end of the hall we made a left. From there, it was two more turns before we were finally standing in front of Rota’s extra-tall wooden double doors. The doors were open, and inside, Link and Rota were engaged in swordplay.
“Yer gettin’ a bit slow in yer old age there, Valkyrie,” Link taunted as he whipped his tiny sword through the air. “Ye may need to hang up yer sword soon, lass.”
Rota cackled and lunged with her sword, nearly taking off Link’s ear. “The day I hang up my sword will be the day I enter Valhalla. And even then, they’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!”
“Nice,” I muttered, stepping into the room. “Getting in a little practice?”
“Time!” Rota and Link called simultaneously.
They split apart, Link sheathing his sword at his waist while Rota went to put her sword away…each of them still trading barbs with each other.
“You two are ridiculous,” I said. “Aren’t you a little old for trash talking?”
They both whirled and gaped at me.
“It’s half the fun, Kara,” Rota said. “Isn’t that right, Link?”
Link’s wings glowed purple and green. “Aye, lass, it is.”
Rota went to sit behind her desk, while Zane and I sat across from her, and Link perched atop the globe on the bookshelf.
“Before we get started on backgrounds,” Zane said, “Kara and I discovered something important. It seems fifteen years ago, Mari, Hunter, Rayna Halter, Reed Masterson, and Sasha Carter were responsible for what happened to Eliza Nordic. They played a ‘prank’ as they called it, that went very wrong. It was responsible for what left Eliza permanently disabled.” He went on to tell them what happened that Valentine’s Day, adding in the part about Rayna working magic twice more against Eliza. “Since each one of them had a part in the ‘prank,’ they made a pact to never tell what they’d done. We aren’t saying it’s the only motive one of our suspects had to kill Mari, but it’s a huge motive. Especially since we’ve also discovered that Mari is the one who sent the valentines to everyone in the group.”
“This is horrible,” Rota said. “Does Eliza know?”
“We aren’t sure,” I said. “But it would go a long way to motive. Could be Mari cracked and told her, and Eliza decided to retaliate.”
Zane shifted in his seat. “Sheriff Stiles was on his way to talk to the district attorney, Calvin Haggle, an hour ago.”
I nodded. “We also know time of death was between three-thirty and four-thirty.”
Alfred entered the room, wheeling in a cart piled high with food—tiny finger sandwiches, myriad different fruits, a platter of cheese and crackers, petit fours, and what I hoped was a peanut butter pound cake.
“You don’t even have to ask,” Alfred said. “It’s a peanut butter pound cake.”
“Yes!” I raised my fist in the air in triumph. “You’re the best, Alfred.”
He chuckled. “Plus hot tea or coffee to choose from.”
“Got my mead right here.” Rota lifted the flask she’d received as a gift from Alfred. “That’ll do for me.”
Alfred smiled and shook his head, walking out of the room. We quickly filled our plates and started to eat. After a few minutes, Rota took a sip of mead and then turned on her computer and projected the image onto the wall.
“First up is Hunter Quinn. Age, thirty-three. Vampire. Was married to the victim, Mari. They have one child. He’s owned Quinn Accounting for eight years. His personal financials are good because he and Mari merged their money. His business finances are another story. Over the last few years, Hunter has made less and less money. Last year, he barely broke even. Not sure why that is. Might be something to ask him about. No criminal record on file.”
I popped a blackberry into my mouth. “For now. Could be a different story if the DA presses charges.”
“Motive for Hunter to kill Mari?” Rota asked.
“He and Sasha Carter were having an affair,” Zane said. “We know Mari suspected the affair, but she wasn’t sure who the other woman was. And now we know he’s having financial issues.”
“Life insurance?” I mused.
