Page 24 of The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag

Fuck me.

Chapter 16

‘Speak!’ Liv commanded.

I looked at the headless corpse in confusion. The head was gone and the vocal cords sliced through, so how could Alfgar possibly speak?

‘Who did this to you?’ Liv asked, her forceful voice demanding an answer.

‘I did not see. My killer struck me from behind.’ A deep booming voice came from Liv’s mouth and filled the space. Oh, that was freaky. It soundednothinglike her.

If I was freaking out, I dreaded to think what Leif was doing. I looked at him and, sure enough, he looked beyond queasy as he leaned against the wall.

‘Where were you killed?’ Liv asked.

‘The tailings,’ came the response.

The blood had pooled around the dwarf where he’d been found – had it all been a set up, then? Was it evenhisblood? Because if not, we were dealing with someone truly sophisticated, and I couldn’t help but feel that wasnotMatilda. The hag wouldn’t know anything about forensics; she wouldn’t know enough about a crime scene to try and fake a pool of blood to make it seem likethathad been the scene of death.

Everything, even down to the way the body had been positioned as if Algar had been running away, was a set up.

‘Why were you at the tailings?’ Liv asked.

I nodded approval, impressed that she remembered that Alfgar wasn’t supposed to be there.

‘I was given a note. If I didn’t come to the tailings by 5pm, they would kill my family.’

‘Who gave you the note?’

‘I don’t know. I found it in my locker. But they included a photo of my family and I was afraid for them. I complied.’

Liv addressed us hastily between gritted teeth. ‘I can’t hold him much longer – it is far more difficult without the body being whole. What other questions do you have?’

‘Where is the note now?’ I asked urgently. We might get prints. Liv repeated my words.

‘Still in my locker. I tossed it back inside.’

‘Was anyone else at the tailings site when you arrived?’ Gunnar asked and Liv echoed his words.

‘I saw someone from a distance. I don’t know who it was.’

‘Who took your head?’ Leif asked urgently.

‘Who. Took. Your. Head?’ Liv managed; she was panting now.

Poor Alfgar freaked out. ‘My head is gone?’ His words were a panicked shriek. The body reached up to feel above itself then a bloodcurdling scream ripped out of Liv. We all jumped.

‘Did you have any enemies?’ Sidnee asked, but Liv didn’t repeat the question. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she crumpled to the floor. Alfgar’s body also went limp and slumped over. Leif leapt forward to stop it toppling forward and crashing to the ground.

Leif hurriedly arranged the body so it wouldn’t slip off the stretcher as I raced to Liv. Gunnar hung back, seemingly unconcerned about the necromancer’s faint. As Sidnee and I helped her up, her eyes flared open. There was a flash of annoyance in them when she registered that Gunnar had not come running, and I wondered if the faint had been a feint.

‘Did you get your answers?’ Liv asked.

‘As many as he knew the answer to.’ I looked at her admiringly. ‘That was brilliant,’ I said honestly. It had been totally fascinating and by far the least disgusting thing I’d seen her do. The last time she’d done something, she’d killed a goat.

She waved a limp hand. ‘I’ll bill you.’

‘Of course you will,’ Sidnee muttered sourly.

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