Page 19 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

Gunnar shook his head. ‘We aren’t sure. All we know is it’s a dwarf … and he’s missing his head.’

Chapter 13

We travelled in silence, lost in our own thoughts. It seemed obvious to me that the missing head pointed directly to Matilda’s involvement, but had she killed the dwarf or just taken the head after he’d been killed? Either way, I was sure the dwarves were going to accuse her.

She was the obvious culprit, yet I still had my doubts. I hadn’t found anything malicious or threatening about Matilda, and it all seemed just a little too neat, too convenient, for my liking. We had only just learned that she was possibly holding the dwarves’ souls hostage… My gut told me that even if shehadtaken the head it was after the dwarf had already died.

Still, I couldn’t ignore the possibility that Matilda could be the killer. My next thought was that if shewasguilty, how the hell would we arrest and hold her? She was, quite literally, a force of nature and no bars would contain her; we’d need some wards, possibly of the deadly variety – and that meant Liv.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on at the mine. A second death made Helmud’s seem even more suspicious, but what was the purpose in killing a mine inspector and then a miner? What motive could someone have? My mind continued racing in unhelpful circles until, before I knew it, we were pulling into the car park.

Sidnee tapped me on the shoulder. ‘What are you thinking about?’

I shrugged. ‘A few things, I guess. If the dwarves insist Matilda did it, how will we arrest her and keep a hold of her?’

‘Magic-cancelling cuffs will work on her, the same as anyone else,’ Gunnar said. ‘If anything, they work too well on an elemental, or so I’ve been reading. Because an elemental’s whole being is magical, they can’t wear the cuffs for too long or the consequences can be deadly. If we end up arresting her, we’ll need to cuff her and get her into the warded cell quickly. No diversions.’

‘You’ve been doing some reading up?’ I asked.

‘Sigrid,’ he admitted. ‘She looked at some book last night after I asked her about hags. It talked about elementals in a general way rather than specifically about hags, but I’m guessing what it says will apply to her.’ He patted the cuffs at his hip. ‘You both got yours?’

‘Got ’em,’ Sidnee confirmed.

‘Me too,’ I chimed in.

‘All right then. Let’s see who’s dead.’

He parked up and we climbed out of the SUV. As we walked over to the mining office, I wasn’t sure who we’d meet but I hoped it would be Thomas again because I trusted him. I respected Liv and Calliope, but the trust wasn’t quite there yet – they were both deadly and scary. Thomas was deadly but in a human way and somehow that was more familiar.

We opened the door to find all three mine owners waiting. ‘Hi ladies,’ I greeted Liv and Calliope. ‘Good to see you.’

Calliope Galanis’s long blue hair was neatly braided; it never seemed to fade – I was fairly positive that the colour was natural because I’d never seen her at the salon. The earthy surroundings at the mine seemed like a direct opposite to her own watery nature, and she was casting her eyes around frequently like she was looking for a way out. This wasn’t her happy place. That made two of us.

By contrast, Liv looked totally at ease. Like Calliope, she was wearing a business suit, though hers was a dark colour that seemed to fade into her skin and made the silver streak in her afro pop. She’d painted her lips a deep blood red. Her beauty would have been truly remarkablewere it not for the coldness in her eyes when she looked at me; obviously I was still not her favourite person. She was carrying a huge bag; evidently, she was planning on doing some necromancy.

I really needed to get back on her good side; sure, she’d accidentally kidnapped my mum, but my mother wasn’t my favourite person and Liv hadn’t been in control of her actions. I was working on forgiving and forgetting – both Mum and Liv.

‘Besides the dead body,’ I started, ‘are there any issues at the mine we should be aware of?’

‘Is the dead body not enough?’ Liv asked drolly.

‘Sure – but you have a dead inspector, too. We’ll be treating the deaths as connected until we receive evidence to the contrary. So, was there something that someone didn’t want Helmud to find?’

Calliope snorted with amusement. ‘Someone like the owners? Are we suspects, Bunny?’

‘We’re just making enquiries, Calliope,’ Gunnar said smoothly. ‘That’s our job.’

‘Indeed,’ she drawled. ‘To my knowledge the mine is operating profitably and well. We have had no issues and there is nothing we need to hide from you – or an inspector. Liv?’

Liv shrugged, ‘I’m a silent partner. I don’t deal with any day-to-day issues, that’s Thomas and Leif’s role. If there was a problem, I wouldn’t know about it.’

Thomas nodded. ‘That’s true. Neither Liv nor Calliope come to the mine regularly.’

‘And you?’

‘I come here every couple of days. Having the boss around at different intervals keeps everyone on their toes. I do the same with my cab company. Keeping an irregular schedule keeps employees honest.’

‘And did you know of any issues?’

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