Page 38 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

Chapter 22

I walked into work early and saw with relief that Sidnee hadn’t left yet. I wanted to make sure she was okay after our chat that morning.

Emotional and tired, I’d gone back to sleep after her visit. I’d slept fitfully, burning with guilt about how I’d treated both her and Connor. I knew I could make it up to one of them, at least.

Her eyes met mine as I walked in the main door, then she came flying around the high counter. We both said, ‘Sorry!’ at the same time and the awkwardness made me laugh. She started snickering, too.

‘Let me go first,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry about earlier. I know you’ve had it rough. My moaning was a wallow in self-pity and I shouldn’t have dumped it on you.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I came round and demanded that you talk about it. Friends are supposed to support friends. What I’ve been through doesn’t lessen what you’re going through. You have every right to your feelings and I acted like a schmuck. I shouldn’t have made it about me.’

We shared another awkward laugh as I touched her arm. ‘Look, Sidnee, you shouldn’t hold this stuff in. I know you must be hurting. You know I’m here, right? I’m a really good listener.’

She looked sombre. ‘Yeah, I know. Thanks, Bunny. I promise I’ll be ready to talk soon. Just give me a little more time.’

I nodded. ‘Whatever you need.’ I understood about needing time to work things through. That was basically what I’d thrown at Connor, and I was still confused about the knot of emotions I was feeling about the whole mess.

‘Bunny, are you there?’ Gunnar bellowed from the back office.

‘Yeah, boss.’

‘Come back here,’ he demanded.

I smiled apologetically at Sidnee. ‘Lunch later?’

‘Sounds good, see you then.’ She gave me a proper smile, and I really hoped that this time she wouldn’t cancel on me.

I dropped my bag on my desk and unclipped Fluffy’s lead. When I put Shadow down, he immediately went to Sidnee for a cuddle.

I went into Gunnar’s office. ‘Hey.’

‘Good evening, Bunny. Lab results came back on the hair strand found at Kostas’s house. It had a hair follicle and it was positive for Aoife Sullivan. We can prove that she stole the fire gem. Good work.’

Knowing that Aoife Sullivan’s body was being sliced up for an autopsy as we spoke eradicated any pride I might have felt. ‘Seems like too little too late,’ I groused. ‘I feel like I’m chasing my tail.’

‘You did great police work. It’s sad about Aoife, but don’t forget our focus. Let’s find the bastard that did this to her, and who in all likelihood stole the fire gem and probably the wind gem too.’

I nodded. It didn’t make me feel better that we were so far behind the game. We didn’t even have a suspect except for her nearest and dearest. ‘I’ve got appointments with her mum and boyfriend in…’ I looked at my phone ‘…an hour and twenty minutes.’

He nodded. ‘I’ve got a meeting with the council. Let’s divide and conquer.’ As I turned to go back to my desk he added, ‘We’re also supposed to meet Liv later to inspect the residences where the earth and water gems are being stored. They cannot be lost as well. So keep that on your radar – you should have plenty of time for your interviews and even lunch.’

‘Got it, boss.’

He gave a dismissive grunt and I left his office. Sidnee had gone for the day so I settled Fluffy and Shadow and went to see what she’d left for me. She and Gunnar had interviewed all the barrier protestors and I scanned their notes. I frowned at Sidnee’s call log. Hardly any calls were recorded, so it must have been a slow day.

I called Thomas and asked for a report on Luke’s movements, then answered a few emails, did some filing and watched some of the barrier protestors’ interviews. I finished with fifteen minutes to spare before Nora Sullivan was due to arrive. She’d been less than friendly when I’d made the appointment and I was dreading her dark looks and snarky remarks, but she’d lost her daughter and it wasn’t hard to understand that grief was making her lash out. She still struck me as a little uncaring but maybe I was bringing my own mummy issues to the table.

After prickly Nora I would have to face woefully sad Luke, and I didn’t know which one would be worse. I switched on the kettle for tea; that always helped to calm me. It was nearly ready when Nora came in. I added a cow’s worth of milk to my brew and walked out to greet her.

‘Good evening, Ms Sullivan. If you’d follow me?’ I took her around the counter to the interview room. ‘Would you like something to drink?’ I offered solicitously.

Glaring at me, she shook her head. Her yellow eyes looked pale and creepy under the fluorescent lights. I put down my cup and pulled out my tablet with the questions on it. ‘How are you doing?’ I asked sympathetically. Something about her rubbed me up the wrong way but I was working hard to be empathetic.

She shrugged. ‘I’m fine,’ she said abruptly. ‘Let’s get this over with.’

Fine with me. ‘Where were you on Tuesday night between the hours of 10pm and 3am?’

She stared daggers at me. ‘You think I murdered my daughter?’

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