“Seriously though,” Axel said, pushing his chair back a little and stretching. “Do you want me to leave? I don’t want to get you both in trouble if there’s stuff I shouldn’t know.”
Max shook his head. “We have clearance for you to be here. Besides, when Dathal is up to speed, you can help us answer any questions he might have.”
“In that case,” Axel said, grinning again “If you have clearance”—he reached for the file again—“I’ll just have a read of this while Dathal catches up.”
Max rolled his eyes but let him have it, and I settled into the chair beside him.
The file Max handed me was thicker than I was expecting. “It includes the same photos that are on the board. Thought it would be easier at the start, so you don’t have to keep looking up to see who’s who.”
“It’s a good idea.” I smiled in thanks.
“Right.” Max rubbed his hands together. “Since it’s probably going to be a long day, I’m going to go rustle up some coffee and snacks.” He pointed at Gabriel. “Mase will answer any questions until I get back.” He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
I opened the file, then glanced up at Gabriel. “What do you prefer to be called?” I’d noticed almost everyone called him Mase, but I didn’t want to presume I could use it too.
“Oh.” Gabriel looked surprised. “Only Rys, and by extension his pack, call me Gabriel. Everyone else calls me Mase. Either is fine.” His smile was warm and friendly, and I decided that I liked him.
I was curious about him too.
But that could wait for later.
I had a job to do, and first things first, I needed to learn all about this case.
* * *
I madenotes on a pad that Gabriel provided.
The case notes were concise and easy to follow, but I had questions, things I wanted to follow up on for myself. When I reached the end of the file, I sat back in my chair and reached for another one of the muffins Max had brought in earlier.
Food this side of the gateway obviously wasn’t up to fae standards, but I could get used to baked goods. Particularly ones with chocolate chips or blueberries. “So,” I said, sitting back in my chair after getting the attention of Axel, Gabriel, and Max. “Tombs was behind all the attacks to exact revenge on you, Gabriel.”
Gabriel smiled at my use of his name. Using Mase didn’t sit right with me for some reason. Maybe it was the fae in me, but Gabriel was a beautiful name. It rolled off the tongue, and Mase… didn’t.
“Yes,” Gabriel answered. “Him and another member of the Silver Arrows. As far as we’re aware, no one else from their hunter group was involved.”
“Or any other hunter group?” I checked my notes again. Several groups had been involved in capturing the victims of Tombs’ poisonings.
“Not that we can prove,” Max added, and I raised an eyebrow. “Sorry. They’re a bunch of wankers, but no, there is no proof to suggest they had any involvement with what Tombs was trying to do.”
So, Tombs was dead, and the guy helping him was in police custody. As was Zane, the nightclub owner who’d helped Tombs when he got to this area. And that was one thing I wanted clarification on. “Zane Collins is a witch, yes? A level two.”
Max nodded.
I checked the file, reminding myself what a level two witch was capable of.
Impressive.
“It says here that he only helped Tombs once Tombs arrived in this area. Do you believe him?”
Max nodded. “I do.”
I took him at his word, shifters were well known for their excellent gut instinct, and Max sounded certain. “In that case, who was helping Tombs with the other victims?”
Max’s lips twitched. “We’re looking into it.” He sat forward, arms resting on the table, big hands clasped. “Going on the assumption that Tombs used a similar process to get close to his victims—”
“Like a glamour or memory altering spells?” I interrupted, glancing down at my notes again.
Max nodded. “He needed some way to get close to his victims to get them to ingest Blue Alhuirn. We can’t prove he was involved in all the cases, but I strongly believe that all four of the previous victims died from Blue Alhuirn poisoning. So unless he paid someone close to them to do it…” I held out my hands.
