All of that, however, was Captain Reese and Sarge’s call to make. I just had to instruct Orrin on the case-updating process to the best of my abilities.
“So. First of all, you can see where the day shift made notes about the humans that cased Tutu’s yesterday.” I pointed out the picture—given to us by Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia security team—of the human duo. “Which details that they were interrupted while recording the location and number of security guards inside the building, and that they’d been hired by an unknown contractor. They were then released once the human police arrived as taking notes isn’t against human laws. This information was also uploaded to the electronic case file, but you don’t have clearance to access our database,” I said.
Orrin nodded, unoffended, as he diligently took notes.
I turned back to the whiteboard, until the door banged open and Grove strolled in. “Oi! Low-tenure-and-not-the-team-designated-handsome-fae, you’re minding your place, yeah?”
“Grove? Did something happen?” I asked.
“Hm?” Grove pivoted on his heels so he could face me and salute. “Oh, Blood! Nah, everything is fine. I just wanted to ask if your beloved would be interested in testing a poison to see how potent it is.” He shook a glass bottle that contained a murky liquid that was a shade of neon orange that didn’t strike me as natural.
Considine yawned. “Pass.”
Grove held his hand to chest. “Really? Even though I called you her beloved?”
“You calling me her beloved is not the same thing as if she calls me her beloved,” Considine said.
“I’m a fae, so I can’t lie. That means it’s true.” Grove shook the potion at him again.
“Uhhhh,” I said.
“See! She didn’t say no so you can’t prove shedoesn’tthink you aren’t her beloved,” Grove said, deeply self-satisfied. “Anyway, are you sure you won’t try it? It could be a useful tool for Blood to use in combat.”
Considine narrowed his eyes. “You said it’s a poison, so I assume it has to be consumed?”
“Yes.”
“Then no. Jade couldn’t use it unless she was force feeding it to her opponent—a tactic I’m sure she’d protest.”
“Darn.” Grove made a show of putting the potion in a pouch attached to his belt. “So. What’s going on?”
Wanting to encourage our discussion, I tapped my dry erase marker on the board. “I’m using our investigation into Gisila to show Orrin how we update active cases.”
“Oooh, special lessons from Blood! I’ll go tell everyone. They’ll want to know.” A wave, and Grove was gone disappearing through the open door.
“Wait—but,” I tried to protest, then gave up and returned my attention to Orrin. “Please be aware that Grove is allowed to have a somewhat…lax sense of duty because of the particular role he fills as the team medic. Should you want to be allowed to have the same attitude as him, you will need to be able to brew high-level healing potions.”
“That’s not in my skill set or interests,” Orrin said. “But I will keep that in mind.”
“Please also keep in mind that Grove walks a very fine line in acting as both a threat and a tool for Jade’s well-being.” Considine smiled, his pronounced fang teeth flashing alarmingly in the meeting room’s fluorescent lighting.
“Understood.” Orrin made a notation on his notepad, while I started to feel the pain of indigestion.
I pointedly turned to the smartboard-turned-whiteboard. “While the day shift made records about the humans, we have since received additional information from Tutu’s security, right before they closed for the day. Sarge made the announcement at muster. Do you remember what he said?”
“That Tutu’s security followed the lead on the contractor that hired the humans but were hit with dead ends as the phone number that had been used to hire them was disconnected, and the humans didn’t have a name to go by,” Orrin recited. “Which means there’s no proof Gisila hired them, but Sarge said it is likely.”
“Exactly,” I said. “This information has been uploaded into the efile, but not the whiteboard, so we need to note that here, underneath this section about the humans.” I started writing, the dry erase marker squeaking every so often.
Orrin took some notes, presumably writing down what I’d said, while Considine stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “Orrin, has Gisila employed humans in the past?”
Orrin mashed his lips together and gave Considine a flat look.
“The geas means you can’t talk about it, hmm?” Considine scratched his jaw. “Okay, then let’s say…in your opinion, would dragon shifters be open to having human employees?”
“Yes,” Orrin said.
Considine nodded. “Figures. Dragons will use anyone convenient that they can control.”
