Page 40 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

‘Can wecome inside?’

Her reaction was instantaneous. ‘Mafu?’ she asked, eyes wide in panic. ‘Haavale?’

‘No!’ Gunnar exclaimed and then moderated his tone. ‘No, but I’m sorry to inform you that your son-in-law Svestri has been found dead.’

‘Oh thank God,’ she breathed. She realised a beat later what that sounded like. ‘I mean I’m just relieved you’re not here to tell me that Mafu or Haavale are dead.’ She fidgeted uncomfortably.

‘How would you characterise your relationship with your son-in-law?’ I asked.

She bit her lip. ‘Honestly? I disliked him. He treated Haavale like dirt. When she said she was going to divorce him, I cracked open a bottle of prosecco. She promised this time she’d follow through with it and I believed that she would. She’d caught him out in a lie – he’d said he was working when he wasn’t. She knew he was stepping out on her even though he denied it.’

Looking pleased, she pursed her lips. ‘Mafu and I said we’d help her fund the divorce.’ She brightened ‘Though I guess now she’ll get the double-wide, no questions asked.’ Then she grimaced. ‘Divorce or not, she’ll be upset. She’s so kind hearted.’ She grabbed her car keys.

‘Mrs. Finau,’ Gunnar said, ‘we need to speak to your husband. Is he here?’

‘No, he left hours ago. Said he had to work on the boat.’

‘In the dark?’ I asked, surprised.

‘No, he left in the early hours of the morning. He must be on his way back by now –I’ll leave him a note.’ She scribbled something on the back of an envelope and left it on the side for her husband to find when he came home.

Gunnar cleared his throat. ‘While you’re out, may we search the premises?’

Mrs Finau’s eyes narrowed. ‘Oh wow! One of us is a suspect?’ She folded her arms and glared. ‘Shame on you! Sigrid will be furious when I tell her what you accused us of!’

‘I haven’t—’ Gunnar started.

‘Might as well have!’ she said sharply. ‘So no, you do not have my permission. You come back with a warrant.’ She pointedly slammed the door shut behind her and walked out to her car, nose in the air.

There we went, making friends again.

We watched as she headed out, then we did the same. ‘South Harbour?’ I asked. If Mafuwason his boat, that was where he’d be.

‘Yup,’ Gunnar replied.

I drove quickly, both of us feeling pressure to break this case. We had Essie and Kate who knew where. And Sidnee? Well, Sidnee was sitting in jail.

We pulled into the docks and looked around but Mafu’s vehicle wasn’t in the car park. Gunnar and I looked at each other, both thinking the same thing: it wasn’t a good sign for the mayor, but maybe it was a good one for Sidnee.

Chapter 24

Mafu’s boat was bobbing in the water but there was no one nearby. We looked around the outside of it but without a warrant that was all we could do. No mayor to be found.

A cranky-looking Liv came over. ‘Where the hell is he?’ she demanded, gesturing to the boat. ‘He’s been ducking out all day, hiding from his responsibilities, makingmesearch his fishing fleet.’

‘We don’t know,’ I admitted.

‘Well, you’ve got the warrant – go search.’

‘You’ve agreed to sign a warrant,’ Gunnar rumbled. ‘We haven’t actually got one yet.’

‘Such a stickler,’ she muttered and climbed aboard.

‘Liv!’ he shouted. ‘Get back here! We have no legal authority here, anything you find—’

‘Oh hush! I’m not the law here.’

‘You’re a council member and held to the same standards!’ Gunnar’s voice was icy. ‘If you recall you are notabovethe law.’

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