Page 34 of The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist

‘And the financials?’

‘I took a tonne of photographs for the accountant so I hope he can spot something. There was an empty drawer, though, and it looked like it had been cleared out recently.’

‘Engell is a neat freak,’ I pointed out.

‘Undoubtedly. I’ll get the files to the accountant and let you know if anything leaps out at him.’

‘Great.’ I paused. ‘Why are you letting me help you?’

He gave a wry smile. ‘Firstly, it’s clear you’re going to look into it with or without me. Secondly, if we identify Engell as the culprit, you can take our evidence to Fischer for me and that way my job isn't on the line if we’re wrong.’ He looked serious. ‘I likemy job at the academy because I get to help promising young supernats make a positive impact on the world. That’s more important than Engell stealing a few thousand dollars. What I domatters.’

I nodded. ‘It does. Thanks for being frank with me. You find the evidence and I’ll be your fall guy.’ I paused. ‘Engell pulled me in at the end of the class. He said we had a mutual acquaintance.’

‘And?’

‘Sidnee knows the acquaintance too, but he didn’t call her in.’

‘You think he was trying to pump you for information?’

‘Maybe. I haven’t been terribly subtle about my investigation. Anyone can check my library history and see what I’ve been looking into.’

Marks grimaced. ‘Keep your eyes open and keep walking around in pairs.’

‘You got it.’ I gave a mock salute and went to join Danny and Sidnee. Danny nodded in greeting then jerked his head towards Sidnee. ‘You trust her?’

‘Fully,’ I confirmed.

By silent agreement, we ducked into the other dark classroom. As Sidnee took up a position at the edge of the door to watch for interlopers, Danny switched his focus back to me. ‘You’ve been trying to get my attention today. What’s up?’

‘Liam Smith.’

Danny tensed. ‘What about him?’

‘He was from your village.’

‘He was.’

‘You knew him?’ I pressed.

His expression was grim. ‘He was a friend.’

I studied him. ‘Apparently he dropped out from here but never made it home?’

Danny’s jaw tightened. ‘He didn’t drop out, I swear it. The records said he had, but we spoke the night before he wentmissing and he was real enthusiastic, overflowing with praise for Sergeant Marks.’

‘Marks in particular?’ I asked.

‘Yeah. I got the vibe that Marks had taken him under his wing. Marks is a bear shifter, same as Liam, and Liam really looked up to him.’ Danny’s voice choked up.

I patted him on the shoulder. ‘So that’s why you’re here? You’re already a detective, aren’t you?’

‘Damn right,’ he confirmed. ‘My Nomo made out like there was a disciplinary issue and he wanted me sent back to school to re-learn all the basics.’

‘But really you’re undercover?’

‘You bet. And something fucking stinks. Liam never mentioned an active poltergeist. And…’ he paused ‘…I found this in the old mine.’ He pulled out a ring. ‘It was Liam’s. Whatever happened to him, he was down there.’

‘A squad challenge?’

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