“All of them.” The enforcer’s expression was grim. “Murder, illegal use of vampiric thrall for financial exploitation, attempted murder of a Justiciary investigator, unlawful imprisonment…”
“And conspiracy,” Bridget added. “You might as well throw that in. I’m sure some of the vampires still wobbling around here were part of all this, too.”
“Correct.” Ant managed a nod. “I witnessed Edmund acting as lookout while Claudius used vampiric trance to paralyze Mr. Finch before draining him. It’s my belief that Nathaniel participated in the subsequent cover-up by removing evidence from the crime scene. There was a third vampire at the murderscene, noted in Claudius’s diary as Tory, although I haven’t seen him again since we’ve been here. But it shouldn’t be difficult for the Justiciary to find out who that was.”
“Then we’ll need formal charges against all four.” The enforcer gestured to his tablet. “Your scene reading testimony…”
“Will likely be challenged as circumstantial,” Ant interrupted. “Defense lawyers will argue the ward-trap compromised my observations.”
“But the photographs won’t be,” Bridget said smugly. “Physical evidence from the safe, taken after you legally destroyed unlawful restraints. The chain of custody is maintained through encrypted transfer to Justiciary servers.”
Robert nodded. “The combination of scene reading and documentary evidence creates an airtight case.”
“Then let’s make it official.” The lead enforcer opened a recording app on his tablet. “Doctor Anthony Channon, as lead investigator for the Mage Justiciary, do you formally charge Claudius Raven with the murder of Ronald Finch?”
“I do.” Ant’s voice was steady. “Based on direct observation through scene reading and corroborating physical evidence, including Claudius’s personal journal, I witnessed Claudius Raven use illegal vampiric trance to paralyze Ronald Finch on October fifteenth at approximately 1:23 a.m., then drain him of blood until death occurred. This was premeditated murder committed to prevent Mr. Finch from exposing Claudius’s decades-long financial exploitation scheme.”
“Do you charge him with illegal use of vampiric trance?”
“Yes. The safe documents show systematic use of vampiric trance on at least two hundred and forty-three human victims over a span of one hundred and seventy-six years, resultingin coerced asset transfers totaling approximately six hundred million dollars.”
The enforcer’s expression went carefully blank. “Six hundred million.”
“Conservatively estimated.” Ant pulled up a ledger photograph. “Claudius maintained detailed financial records. Each entry includes victim names, dates, amounts stolen, and shell corporation transfers.”
“Jesus Christ,” someone muttered from the hallway.
“Do you charge him with attempted murder of a Justiciary investigator?”
“Definitely yes.” Ant’s jaw tightened. “After I completed the scene reading and Claudius learned I’d witnessed his crimes, he explicitly stated his intention to kill me while forcing my mate to watch. He activated estate-wide lockdown wards to prevent our departure and ordered his guards to attack us.”
“And unlawful imprisonment?”
“Yes. The lockdown wards were used to illegally detain myself, my mate Viktor, and my service dog Able despite our clearly stated intention to leave the property.”
The enforcer saved the recording. “That’s everything we need for the arraignment. Ms. Channon, your supplementary evidence?”
Bridget produced her own tablet. “Financial forensics tracing the shell corporations back to Claudius’s legal team, records of suspicious transactions, and preliminary victim identification based on missing persons reports cross-referenced with property transfer dates.”
“Outstanding work.” The enforcer accepted her tablet, scrolling through the files. “This level of coordination…”
“Is what happens when you threaten my brother,” Bridget said coolly.
Robert cleared his throat. “I also have a magical analysis of the estate’s ward structure. Doctor Channon’s destruction of the keystone was legally justified self-defense, and the ward matrix itself was violating at least seven Justiciary regulations regarding appropriate defensive magic on private property.”
“Seven?” Viktor asked.
“The buried talismans constitute unlicensed magical artifacts,” Robert explained. “The lockdown dome exceeded legal limits for containment wards. Although I didn’t know about it at the time, the vision-trap Doctor Channon mentioned, specifically designed to torture investigators during scene readings, is explicitly illegal under Justiciary protection statutes…”
“Robert wrote a very thorough report,” Bridget said proudly. “It took him four hours.”
“Three hours and forty-seven minutes,” Robert corrected. “I wanted it to be accurate.”
They’d been building this case all night.Ant looked between his sister and her boyfriend, something warm settling beneath his exhaustion. “You coordinated an entire parallel investigation.”
“You do crime scenes, I do paperwork.” Bridget shrugged. “We’re a good team.”
“The best team,” Ant agreed quietly.
