Page 21 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘And when it is?’

She smiled. ‘Of course I’ll let you know, Officer Barrington.’ She was lying.

‘Thank you for your time,’ I said politely.

‘I’ll show you out,’ Soapy said. It wasn’t an offer. I let him herd me out of the building. ‘Next time make an appointment, Barrington.’ He slammed the door shut behind me.

After the fish plant, I moseyed around the warehouse district. I passed one empty warehouse but it had no cars outside. The AML warehouse, where Chris Jubatus and his black-ops crew had held my friends hostage, was also a no-go; it was busy, but the workers were offloading a barge.

I was about to continue my search when my phone vibrated with a text from Sidnee: Anissa thinks she can break the curse with the right ingredients for a potion.

Did she say what she needed? Maybe we can order them?

She has to consult her elders. She said she’d get back to me. That was promising.

I continued to drive around. The next warehouse I came to had quite a few cars outside and was large enough to house the market easily. Fluffy and I got out for some more snooping but it was another dead end. It looked like someone was renovating it and the cars belonged to the construction personnel. I was getting discouraged.

My phone buzzed. Bunny, get back here. Anissa came through! Sidnee’s text read.

On my way, I replied. I looked down at Fluffy. ‘Let’s go boy, we might have a cure for poor old Jeff.’

Fluffy wagged his tail and we hurried to the vehicle. I drove back as fast as I dared, excitement buzzing; if we could cure Jeff, he could tell us who’d cursed him. He must have seen who’d painted runes on his skin.

This was going to be easy! We’d have this case cracked in no time at all.

Chapter 13

When Fluffy and I strolled into the office, John was sitting on the hard plastic chairs on the civilian side of the counter and Sidnee was talking to Anissa. Anissa looked slightly more rested than the last time I’d met her, but not much. She was dressed in pink scrubs, her dark hair braided down her back.

‘Hey, Anissa,’ I greeted her. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m okay, thanks, Officer Barrington.’

‘Please, call me Bunny.’

She smiled. ‘Thank you, Bunny.’

‘How’s your daughter?’

Anissa beamed and it warmed her stern looks. ‘She’s wonderful.’

I smiled back. ‘That’s lovely to hear. I know those early months can be tricky. Can you excuse me a moment?’ I turned to John. ‘Hi, John, how are you doing? Is everything all right at Kamluck?’

‘Yes, everything is fine. Connor has been so welcoming.’

‘How can I help you?’

‘I need to talk to you about something.’

I looked back at Anissa. ‘Is it urgent?’

He weighed up the question before slowly shaking his head. ‘No, it’s important but it’s not time sensitive. It can wait. I see you’re busy right now.’

‘I’ll come out and talk to you tomorrow, or we can do dinner when you’re in town,’ I offered.

‘Either works. I’ll be in touch.’ He walked out and my gut curdled with anxiety. What could he possibly have to say to me that was important? Nothing good, that was for sure.

I turned back to Anissa. ‘I’m sorry about the interruption. Thanks for coming in. Can you tell us a little about what we can do about the curse?’

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