“Do you know if your husband had any enemies? Anyone with a grudge against him?” Wager asked. Given what had happened to the man, it seemed an odd question, but then again—we had to explore all aspects.
Avis hesitated, then shrugged. “Linus has an abrasive personality. I know that under the grouchy exterior he’s really a sweetheart, but most people find him a little hard to take at first. But he’s a good person,” she said. “He’s never really hurt anybody in his life—not without provocation.”
“Do you know of anybody with whom he’s recently tangled?”
Avis worried her lip. “Yeah, I do. He got into a scuffle with a selkie not long ago. It was early August—just a couple weeks ago. He was down by the docks, fishing, and his line accidentally got tangled with that of another man. They got into an argument, and Linus accidentally broke the guy’s fishing pole. The selkie threatened to drag Linus underwater if he didn’t pay for it. Linus insisted it was an accident, but the other guy was a lot bigger and stronger than my husband, and I finally convinced him to just pay for the pole. It didn’t seem to calm the selkie down, but he took the money and left.”
Selkie? They were Light Fae, bound to the water. I wasn’t sure what powers they had, but that might track with what we knew so far.
“Do you know his name? The selkie’s name?” I asked.
She nodded. “Linus had to App-Pay him. His name was Ian McMasterson.” She paused, then asked. “Where do I find my husband’s remains? Is he at the morgue?”
Not wanting to be the one to tell her that her husband was essentially a pile of jellyfish goo, I stepped away, thinking. A selkie—a magical one—might have some sort of power to transform others, especially given that they were shifters themselves. We’d want to pay a visit to Mr. McMasterson, to find out where he’d been last night, and what he’d been doing.
CHAPTER FOUR
As we left Avis’s shop, I glanced over my shoulder. Erica and Veris were on their way out as well, and I hoped that one of Avis’s friends would show up to help her. She was crying now—the shock had worn off. My heart went out to her, but there was nothing we could do except try to find out who had killed Linus.
Once we were far enough away so that she couldn’t hear us, Wager frowned. “Can a selkie do that? And would someone actually kill over a fishing pole?”
“Not that I know of, and I wouldn’t,” I said. “But we don’t know. Maybe Ian’s a sorcerer or…he could be Ante-Fae, like me. Our powers don’t operate the same way as the powers of the Light and Dark Fae. Each one of us is unique.” I had inherited my birthmarks from my parents, and some of my inclinations, but I was neither a Black Dog nor one of the Bean Sidhe.
“That’s a possibility,” Kipa said. “We haven’t had a run-in with one of the Ante-Fae in a while. And let’s face it, your kind are chaotic.”
“At best,” I said. I didn’t have any illusions about my own kind. And I was chaotic as well. I knew it and owned it.
“Can you find Ian McMasterson’s phone number or address?” I asked.
“I think we should do a little research on him before we drop in at his house,” Wager said. “If he’s the killer, we should find out what we’re dealing with before paying a surprise visit. And if he’s not, we don’t want to instigate a lawsuit.”
We were nearing the car when Wager’s phone rang. He answered, then quickly barked out, “Where? Send me your location.”
“What?” Kipa asked.
“Another one! Erica and Varis are heading there now. Let’s go.” He turned and sprinted toward the car. “It’s not that far, but we’ll get there quicker by driving,” he called over his shoulder.
We followed him, piling into the car.
“Whoever is behind this has an appetite for murder. Were all the victims human? I can’t remember.” I asked.
Wager squinted against the sunlight shining through the windshield. He slid on his sunglasses as we wheeled out of the parking lot. “Yes, they’ve all been human. And all men.”
The drive down to the docks didn’t take long—it wasn’t rush hour yet. The August heat felt stifling to me after living in Kalevala. It wasn’t really that hot, not compared to some places, but eighty-two degrees felt like it was baking the land.
Kipa, who was sitting in the back seat, leaned forward to look over my shoulder. “And nobody’s seen anything?”
“Not that the cops can find. Nobody’s reported anything strange until they found the dissolving bodies. From what they can tell, it takes at least a couple of hours for the bodies to melt into slime.” He grimaced. “I keep imagining some giant sea slug after somebody threw a bucket of salt at it. Not to make light of these deaths, but they’re so freaking weird.”
“There—the cop car,” I said, pointing to one of the lots near the slips. The pier was one that wasn’t used by the ferries or barges, but instead, by boaters who were looking for a place to pull in with their ships. The company who leased the pier rented out the slips by the hour, and on the dock, there were restrooms with rentable showers, a few food courts, and a couple of security guards on duty at all times, though they didn’t always show up or pay much attention.
We parked in one of the open spots and headed down the pier. The medical examiner hadn’t shown up yet, but Erica had commandeered the security guard to keep people out of the way, given that a small crowd of people had formed near the men’s restroom. Erica saw us and motioned us over. She and Varis were guarding the open door.
Weaving through the crowd, we slid past the security guard, who was doing his best to look like he was on the ball. As we approached, Erica glanced behind us.
“Any signs of the medical examiner yet?” she asked.
I shook my head. “We didn’t see any official cars in the parking lot except yours.” I lowered my voice. “So, another body?”
