Page 14 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘So, beside the penis-jacket thief, anything else happen?’ I asked when I’d gotten the snickers under control.

It had been a slow few days since we’d caught Elsa Wintersteen, the wind witch who’d been influenced by the cursed gems. She was safely in an institute being rehabilitated. I’d been relieved when the council hadn’t simply sent her to jail; yes, she’d done horrific things but they hadn’t really been her fault any more than being briefly possessed by the fire gem had been my fault.

‘Oh! You made the paper, again.’ Sidnee pulled out a copy of The Supernat Sentinel. Sure enough, there was a grainy photograph of me cuffing one of the cursed lads from the docks. The headline said: Fierce Fanged Flopsy Foments Fear.

I let out a groan. I regretted ever speaking to Lisa, the sole reporter at the Sentinel. The article was actually pretty accurate and informative because she’d spoken to some of the cursed lads after Gunnar and I had let them go. It cautioned everyone about the power of curses and ended with a warning to the perpetrator that the Fanged Flopsy was on the case.

‘Bloody marvellous,’ I groused. I guessed that explained who our peeping Tom had been: Lisa was five foot nothing and the shoe prints would undoubtedly match her delicate feet. Dammit, that meant we were back to square one with the curser. I made a mental note to call Lisa and shout at her for running off like that. No doubt she’d been concerned – rightly – that we would confiscate her photos.

Sidnee grinned. ‘Apart from that, it’s been a really boring shift.’

‘Anything from the hotline?’ I wondered if Chris, Sidnee’s drug-dealing ex-boyfriend had tried to contact her again.

‘Nah. The only call was from Gertrude – another complaint about Remmy. I visited him and told him to quit taunting her.’

‘And he agreed?’

Sidnee shrugged. ‘For this week, at least.’

‘He’s going to get himself killed,’ I predicted darkly.

She laughed. ‘I doubt it. I think Gertrude has a thing for him.’

My jaw dropped. ‘No way!’

‘Way.’

‘She needs flirting lessons,’ I said drily. ‘You think Remmy fancies her back?’

She waggled her eyebrows. ‘There’s a reason he’s always on her land!’

I shook my head and chugged my tea. ‘This chat has blown my mind.’

‘Sometimes you have to look at things from a different perspective,’ she advised quietly. From her suddenly serious tone she was thinking about Chris, but it was also good advice. I could apply it to the shit with my mum: maybe I should try looking at things from her point of view?

Then again, maybe not.

Chapter 9

Gunnar bellowed for me shortly after Sidnee left for the night. ‘You rang, boss?’ I said drolly as I strolled into his office.

‘Funny,’ he said flatly. ‘We’ve got a call to go to the “black market”.’ He said the last two words in a deep spooky voice, wiggling his fingers at me, but he was grinning and he looked excited.

‘We have a black market?’ That sounded intriguing. I wondered what you could buy there. Then I remembered that our poison-wielding, fireball-throwing witch, Shirley Thompson, had been selling her wares on the dark web. It was probably things like that.

‘It’s the worst kept secret around,’ Gunnar admitted. ‘But I’ve never been able to find it, let alone had an invitation! It moves around the supernat towns, never staying anywhere long enough to bother the local law enforcement, but they sell things that MIB would definitely take issue with. Obviously they don’t advertise their presence, but word gets out. I usually find out about their arrival right about the time they’re moving on. This time, we’ve got them early! And they’ve actually invited us there!’ He sounded very enthusiastic.

‘Are we arresting them?’ I asked, confused.

‘They’ve asked for us to come, so I’m betting there’s been some foul play. We’ll get the lay of the land and then play it by ear. Take plenty of magic-cancelling cuffs.’

I patted my hip where a number of them were resting on my belt; I always had them on me when I was on duty. In a magical town, they were one of the best weapons in our arsenal.

We left the animals at the office; I could still remember the covetous gleam in Liv’s eyes after she’d learned Shadow could fight the beast beyond the barrier, so I wasn’t about to tote him into an illegal market which sold who knows what.

‘What’s the deal with the market?’ I asked as we drove. ‘It sells illegal stuff?’

‘Undoubtedly so, but mostly it’s about avoiding paying tax and leaving no trace. Everything in cash. No transactions to chase down.’

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