Page 15 of Shadow Seeking

Orik sat down in one of the chairs near Sophia’s desk. “So, my choices are traipsing around a megastore, looking for plumbing supplies, or carrying boxes for my boss’s best friend?I can get out of shopping,” he said. “The bathroom can wait a week.”

“And you’re happy to help out,” I said, laughing.

“Hey, anything to get me out of going shopping.” He glanced at his watch. “What time do you want me over at your place? Or Penn’s?”

“Ten, at Penn’s. Dante will be there too.” I handed him back the file. “Okay, sign off on Benny’s expenses, and tell Sophia I approved them. We need to meet in the staff room, now that Dante and I’ve looked at Letty Hargrove’s house.”

“You have any ideas on the case yet?” Orik asked.

“We have a lot more questions now than when we went there. Anyway, gather everyone and meet me in the conference room in ten minutes, please.” I headed to my office. As I passed the storeroom, I heard Dante and Sophia laughing and playing with Murdoch.

Ten minutes later, we were in the conference room, briefing the others on what we had discovered. “Sophia, I need you to set up an appointment at the school for me. I need to examine Letty’s office. I suppose you can tell them I’ve been asked by her sister to pick up her effects. I need to look through her office, so do what you can to get me in there.”

“Will do,” Sophia said. “I know someone in the main admin office there. She might be able to help.

“Good. Carson, we need you to hack into her computers so we can see what she has on there. Once you break through her password, then do an inventory and find out what she has in her records.”

“Can do. Anything else?”

“I don’t think so, not right now.” I glanced at Dante. “We have a number of books that we took from her house on demonology. Check on who wrote them and see if you can find out if there was a connection between Letty and the authors.They don’t look like anything you can buy from a bookstore.” I paused. “By the way, any luck on the gargoyle?”

“Yes!” Orik perked up. “I forgot to tell you when you came in. I caught it this morning while you were out. The little critter is on its way to being relocated into the wilds. It almost bit me, but I managed to net it, and it’s now safely out of the barn. Chelsey wrote us a big fat check, which I turned into Sophia.”

Chelsey, the puma shifter whose barn had become a refuge for the gargoyle, had hired us more than once, and she always added a generous tip to her checks. She was a successful artist who never shirked payment. I was always happy to take her cases.

“Well, finish the paperwork and file the report in the closed cases.” I glanced at Carson. “Any news on the Megani situation?”

“I’m afraid my news isn’t as good as Orik’s. I think somebody tipped off the members of Tortious, because they found Sylvie’s body this morning.” He hung his head. “She’d been tortured, assaulted, and shot before they dumped her. Destiny Kan let me know.”

Destiny was one of our liaisons from the Seattle PD, and we worked closely with her when circumstances warranted it. They had been trying to break into Tortious for years, but they never managed to make an inroad. So, they worked with us, and with a couple other groups around the area, to make inroads into stopping the white slavers.

Carson tossed a file folder on the table. “Pictures of the body, for our files, in case we ever need them for some reason. It’s bad.” He stared at the table, a grim look on his face. “She was so young…”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, quietly picking up the folder. I didn’t want to look, but I owned Shadow Blade Investigations, and any case that came across my desk was ultimately my responsibility.I quickly glanced through the pictures, my stomach tightening. “Did the cops notify her parents?”

He nodded. “Yeah. They know. I figure we should contact them, as well, given they knew we were working on the case.”

“Yes, we should. Sophia, find out when the funeral is and send a tasteful arrangement of flowers from the firm. We all sign the card before it goes out, as well.”

Sophia jotted down the instructions. “Will do,” she said.

I slowly replaced the file on the table. “Scan and file them. We should ask if anyone has tried to contact her spirit. We might be able to find out something that way.” I caught Sophia’s eye. “You’re good at diplomacy, where I am not. Do what you can to find out the info.”

She nodded, adding it to her list.

“Okay, what about the potential cases you called back this morning? Did you get hold of them?”

Sophia pulled out the appointment book. We used both physical and digital planners so we didn’t lose anything if the power went out or something else happened. “I’ve scheduled an appointment with the Shifter Community Action Council representative for tomorrow at nine-thirty. The woman wanting us to investigate her boyfriend’s past is coming in at 10:30. Her name is Rowan Leaf, and I warn you, she sounds like a space cadet.”

“Lovely,” I said. We had our fair share of nutcases, and then we also had the people who thought every creak meant there was a ghost in the house. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, the man who wants us to investigate a theft? I got hold of him and he refused to tell me anything, but he insisted on making an appointment. He’s coming at 11:15, and his name is Alf Lindstrom.” She frowned. “I don’t like the feeling I get when I talk to him. Watch him.”

I nodded. We paid attention to Sophia’s premonitions. “We could call him back and tell him we’re overbooked, if you think it wise.”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No…but…just don’t jump in too fast.”

“That we will,” I said. “See if you can get me into the school tomorrow. Ask Angela to verify that I’m there at her bequest, in case they call her to confirm my story. With that, let’s get busy. Dante, why don’t you call Destiny and talk to her about Sylvie, and I guess I’ll call her parents. I’m not looking forward to this.”

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