Page 2 of The Little Shop of Curiosities, The Music Box Part 2

I thought the street felt bad, but inside the shop is so much worse. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive. Every breath I take in leaves a sharp metallic taste in my mouth, and my skin prickles, every hair on my body standing on end.

“Do you feel that?” Maddie whispers as she clicks her flashlight on. The thin beam highlights the floor.

“What?”

“The air feels weird. Heavy, prickly. Like when a storm is coming.”

I glance at Maddie. The magic in here must be really potent for her to feel it too.

She sweeps the flashlight’s beam across the room until it lands on a rumpled heap lying on the floor, the pale light settling on tie-dyed material and an Ugg boot.

“Fuck,” Maddie swears. “Where’s the light switch?”

“There’s one here, hold on.” I grope the wall next to the door for the switch, then flick it on, blinking as my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.

All the air leaves my body in a slow exhale as I stare at the scene in front of me. I was at plenty of crime scenes during my time with the West Yorkshire police, but this…this is new.

“I have to call this in. You know the drill, don’t touch anything,” Maddie says, her mouth set in a grim line as she pulls her phone from her pocket.

I glance back at her and nod, then step closer to Viv’s body. I don’t have long to check out the scene before the coroner and a lot more police show up.

My heart aches as I pull my own phone out of my pocket and start taking photos of anything that might be useful in figuring out who the hell would do this to Viv. There’s no way we’re leaving this to Scotland Yard. This one is personal and, judging from the crime scene and the magic hanging thick in the air, way above their pay grade.

I didn’t know Viv well, but I liked her. She was usually halfway through a gin bottle or a joint and prickly as hell, but there was something about her that I warmed to. It was like what she showed to the world was there to hide a much deeper pain, and part of me recognised a kindred spirit.

I lower my phone and stare at her body, my jaw tightening so much my back teeth grind.

Someone is going to fucking pay for this.

The sofa has been pushed up against the bookcases at a weird angle, opening a wide space in the middle of the room. In the centre is Viv, splayed out in a grotesquely unnatural way. Every inch of exposed skin on her is covered in strange spidery symbols. Just the look of them sends an icy chill down my spine.

But the worst part is the thick, uneven stitches of red cord piercing her lips and binding her mouth closed. As if, even in death, someone had wanted to keep her silent.

I kneel beside her, careful not to touch the small pool of blood spreading out beneath her. After taking a few close-up shots of her and the symbols, I finally lower my phone and release a slow breath.

“I’m so sorry, Viv,” I whisper. “We’ll find whoever did this, I promise.”

“Don’t touch anything,” Maddie says sharply, and I gaze up at her as she approaches.

“I’m not,” I mutter. “How soon?”

“Ten, fifteen minutes, maybe.” Her eyes narrow as she studies me. “Long enough for you to tell me the truth.”

“What truth?”

“You knew she was dead, didn’t you? That’s why you were so insistent I meet you here. Danny didn’t call you at all, did he?”

I sigh and push myself up to stand. “He did.”

“How did you know? About Viv? Because right now, this is putting you in as prime suspect.”

“I’d never hurt Viv.” I frown. “For god’s sake, I’d never hurt anyone if I could help it, and I sure as hell couldn’t…” I gesture to Viv’s body.

“Then I suggest you start talking, Sam, and no bullshit. I’m the only thing standing between you, a pair of cuffs, and an interview room right now.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“I would hope not. I like to think both Danny and I are pretty good judges of character. I personally wouldn’t have said you had this in you.” Her troubled gaze falls on the ugly blood-red stitches holding Viv’s mouth together. “I’ve been around Danny and Tris long enough to know weird shit orbits them. I may be willing to take some things on faith, given my trust in Danny as a partner and a friend, but the police officers turning up to document the scene won’t be so understanding.”