Page 66 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

‘The boxes focus their power and keep it drained down so the gems are fairly weak. But the fire gem has been out of the box for several days now and its power will be growing.’

‘So get it back as soon as possible,’ I said, deadpan. We’d been trying. ‘Do you know anyone who understands what the gems are and would want to steal them?’

She shrugged. ‘There are ancient beings out there who are aware of them. But the stones were thought to be lost and I haven’t advertised that I have them.’

‘You’re saying maybe?’

She laughed, a sharp noise that seemed to surprise her. ‘Yes, Bunny, maybe. It is entirely possible that someone wants to steal them for their overwhelming power. However, I still think the thief is someone from this town who knows nothing about them, other than that they power the barrier – and they want the barrier down. Gems and their lesser cousins, crystals, are commonly objects of power so they might just think they are getting very large, expensive gemstones.’

I sighed. This was one job I wanted to be above my paygrade. The beast outside the barrier scared me witless and now I was terrified of the gems, their powers and their past owners. ‘Thanks, Liv. That does give another angle for the possible thefts. I hope you’re right and it’s about the protests.’

She stood up and smoothed down her clothes. ‘Me too.’ She walked out without saying goodbye; she needed to work on her manners, but it was still the most pleasant time I’d ever spent in her presence. I was starting to think that maybe she liked me a little.

Nah.

Chapter 41

I reviewed Sidnee and Gunnar’s notes from the interviews with the barrier protestors and two people struck me: Martin Snow and Ezra Taylor. I called and made appointments for them to come in again. Snow was available immediately so he gruffly promised to present himself for interview.

When he walked in, I had to suppress a gasp. He had two black eyes, one of which was cut and swollen shut, and he was moving stiffly. ‘What happened?’ I asked. ‘I can help.’

He shot me a bitter smile. ‘No, you can’t.’

‘I can speak to Stan…’

He flinched and then I put it all together. Stan had done this; he’d beaten up Snow for failing him at the wind witch’s house, then he’d forbidden him from shifting so his injuries could heal quickly. Stan wanted to punish the moose shifter for his supposed failure. I grimaced. I didn’t believe in corporal punishment.

‘Do you want me to get involved?’ I asked hopefully. Group matters were dealt with largely in-house and I could only intrude if there were bodies on the floor, if other groups were affected, or if I was invited to deal with the matter.

‘No,’ he grunted, ‘I don’t. But I’ve been told to co-operate with you, so here I am.’

‘I appreciate that.’ I led him into the interview room, clicked on the recording equipment, ran through my usual spiel and then we began. ‘You were at the barrier protest, yes?’

‘Yeah. That’s not a crime.’

‘No, it’s not,’ I soothed. ‘Why don’t you like the barrier?’

‘I don’t care about the damned barrier, what I care about is paying for it. The council should foot the bill, not us. It’s hard enough to make ends meet without ridiculous taxes too.’

‘You were rostered on guard for the wind gem the day it got stolen?’ I asked.

‘Yes.’

‘What did you see the day the house got burned down?’

He grimaced. ‘I didn’t see anything. Wintersteen is obsessive about privacy and she never lets her guards stand too close to the property. We can be out front with eyes on her front door and that’s all. She’s never let any of us in. She doesn’t trust us.’

Evidently she was right not to; Snow had let her down in a big way. ‘And on that day, when your shift started?’

Snow sighed. ‘Stan told me to tell you everything so I’ll tell you, though I don’t like you knowing. I have a gambling problem. I’d been given a tip about a horse – a sure win.’ He licked his lips. ‘I went to the bookie.’

‘Why didn’t you bet online?’ I asked nosily.

‘You get better rates at the sports book if you go in person.’

‘Did the tip pay off?’

He glowered. ‘No. I bet, I watched the race and I lost a tonne. After that I drank some akpik moonshine.’ Akpik was the most popular moonshine flavour that the Grimes brothers sold up at their trading post.

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