“A thing?” I asked, not liking the way my voice sounded.
Bothered.
I soundedbotheredby the fact that Axel and Nick might be involved and what thechlah’alwas that about?
Axel shook his head, his gaze catching mine. “No, we were only ever casual at best. And anyway…” He smirked this time. “It’s not me who he was interested in.”
“As much as I would love to hear all about that, we’re needed in the conference room.” Max picked up a stack of files from the desk behind him. “Chief Inspector Thornton is waiting.”
“Oh, right.” Gabriel walked quickly to his desk and picked up some files of his own. “We’d better not make her wait any longer, then.”
Carissa Thornton was a lynx shifter.Lady Sarhin had told me that much at least. She’d been in contact with the high court ever since they’d discovered that Blue Alhuirn was being smuggled out of the Fae Realm.
Chief Inspector Thornton smiled as we entered the conference room. “Dathal. It’s good to finally meet you. Lady Sarhin speaks very highly of you.”
I inclined my head. “She speaks highly of you too. I look forward to working with you and your department.”
“Axel,” she said, turning her focus on him.
“Chief Inspector.”
Max closed the door behind us, and he and Gabriel set their files on the table. The Chief Inspector walked to stand in front of a notice board on the far wall, which was covered in photos.
She swept a hand over it. “These are all the people, human and non-human, who were of interest in the cases of Callum Walker and Blake Tehlin, along with the other victims.” She carried on talking as I edged closer to get a better look.
“I’ve had all the case notes brought in here for you to go over yourself. And both Max and Gabriel will be available at all times to answer any of your questions. As will I, of course, but as you can understand, I also have a police department to run. If you need me, then I’m only a phone call away.”
“Understood.”
“Right. I’ll leave you all to it.” Turning to Max, she said, “I’m out of the office today and tomorrow, but as I said, don’t hesitate to contact me if there are any questions.”
“Of course.”
She left, closing the door again behind her. Axel took a seat at the table, and I moved to the board displaying the photos.
“That’s everybody involved in our investigation,” Gabriel offered, coming to stand next to me.
I tapped a photo near the bottom. “You’re on there.”
Gabriel nodded. “I am.”
“You’re not still under investigation though, are you?”
“No, but we weren’t sure how much you knew about the investigation as a whole. CI Thornton said Lady Sarhin hadn’t told you much, so we thought it best to show you everything, our whole process, from start to finish.”
I nodded, appreciating their candour.
Max joined us. “We’ve prepared a summary of the case, with all the pertinent facts. Why don’t you read that, then any of the referenced files if you want to, and you can ask us questions as you go a long, rather than Mase or me telling you about it.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Max gestured to a seat at the table next to where Axel was busy flicking through a file of his own. “Axel. Those aren’t for you.”
Axel grinned. “Well, what am I supposed to do while we wait for Dathal to catch up?”
“Sit there and look pretty.” Max walked over and plucked the file out of Axel’s hands, ignoring his huff.
I liked him already.
