Page 73 of Wicche Hunt

“Good. I’m glad they liked them.” I waved them in.

“Aren’t you concerned about idiots breaking that thing? It’s glass,” he said.

I led them into the studio, where we could sit down. “I know, but I have security cameras up and the tentacle is spelled. It’s the best I can do to protect it.” I went to the kitchen and looked in my refrigerator and then freezer. “Are you hungry?”

Osso said, “Yes,” at the same time Hernández said, “That’s okay.”

I turned and stared at her.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say no. I just didn’t want you to go to any trouble,” she said.

“It’s not trouble,” Osso said, glaring at Hernández, who was getting between him and food.

“I think that’s supposed to bemyline, but it’s true enough.” I washed my hands and then, given who one of my guests was, pulled a honey pound cake out of the freezer. After defrosting with a spell, I cut it into pieces, grabbed napkins, and brought them the plate. “Drinks?”

“Tea,” Osso said, and Hernández nodded her agreement.

“You got it.” I was walking back with three mugs of tea a couple minutes later to an empty plate. I passed the cups to the detectives, dropped mine off on the little side table by my chair, and then picked up the empty plate and defrosted three blueberry lemon muffins because I was hungry and that sounded good. I added a bit of toasty warmth to them. It wasn’t as good as an oven, but it was far faster.

Osso had already eaten his muffin in one bite and was currently eyeing the second one as I sat down.

“Stand strong, Hernández. If you want it, it’s yours.” I split mine in half, taking a bite of the bottom, saving the top for last.

Mirroring me, she broke off the top, kept it and offered him the bottom, which Osso tossed in his mouth.

“So, what’s up? Why are you both here?” I took a sip of tea.

Hernández swallowed a bite. “We’ve been talking. We’re wondering if our cases are connected.”

I shook my head. “Different killers.”

“Right,” Osso said, taking over, “but are they connected?”

I thought about it a moment. “Like Leopold and Loeb?”

“And Abel and Furlan,” he said, “Lucas and Toole, Bianchi and Buono. There are too damn many to list.”

I kicked off my shoes and pulled my legs up, crossing them. Was this why I’d originally thought the murders were done by the same killer? “I keep hearing whispering.” I pointed at the corridor painting. “There’s whispering behind that door. That was why I called earlier. The angles of the last door on the right are off. The door is ajar and I hear whispering, so…yes. It could be two killers working together.”

Osso and Hernandez both stood to get a closer look at the painting.

“And it can’t just be a mistake you made drawing the line?” Osso asked.

“It absolutely could, but look at all the other doors. It was my Uncle Bracken who saw it. His brain identifies patterns—or breaks in them—immediately. He asked what was going on behind that door because it felt evil.”

Hernández nodded. “It does. This is like the yellow dress in the forest painting.” She was the one who’d caught that. I’d been helping them with a child abduction case. I’d painted what I’d seen in a horrible nightmare, but I hadn’t remembered painting the yellow sweep. Hernández noticed it under a tree in the painting. That bit of yellow was the dress Ana was wearing when she was killed.

“Can you contact the school? Find out who’s lived in that room? I don’t think they’re current students. They feel older. Maybe the school could give you a list. I know one or both of them were in that room.”

Osso was already shaking his head. “Fancy, private school like that? They don’t give up information without a court order and multiple calls to judges and senators.”

“You met the headmaster,” Hernández said. “We don’t have enough for a warrant and he’s not the type to help us out, even if it is his dean at the bottom of the stairs.” She turned to the back door and flinched. “Arwyn, are you aware there’s a crazy-looking old guy on your deck?”

TWENTY-NINE

Back to Murder

Ifollowed her gaze. “That’s my Uncle Bracken. I mean, yes, he’s a crazy-looking old guy, but he’s also my uncle.”

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