Page 42 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

We asked some questions about the disappearance and the time between then and now, but their answers were the same as the ones we had on file. The couple seemed open and honest; after speaking with them, I was absolutely sure they’d had nothing to do with the girls going missing. Besides, we had no reason not to believe the twins’ ghosts and they had pointed the finger firmly at Donovan.

After Mr and Mrs Lopez agreed to the autopsies, we left. We’d have to send the bodies out for a forensic autopsy because the morgue here wasn’t that specialised, but the staff would arrange a transfer to Anchorage.

We drove back to the office and this time I sat in the back with Fluffy. Mrs Lopez wasn’t the only one in need of comfort. Today had been a real shitter and it wasn’t looking up.

‘I can drop you home,’ Gunnar offered. ‘You must be beat. You got woken in daylight.’

‘No, it’s fine. I want to see this through. The girls are still missing and Sidnee is in jail. I can forego a few more hours’ sleep.’

‘You’re a good person, Bunny Barrington, and a damned fine officer. I knew you would be.’

My eyes filled with tears. ‘Thanks, boss.’

We said nothing more as both of us processed our thoughts. We’d run down a lot of leads but death notifications were hard on a good day – and this was very far from being a good one.

No matter what I said to Gunnar, I was beat. In more ways than one.

Chapter 25

Back at the office, April had gone home but Sigrid was still in the cell with Sidnee. When I peeked in, Sid was asleep curled up against her foster mum.

Okay?I mouthed at Sigrid. She smiled and gave a slight nod. She didn’t want to jiggle while she was being used as a pillow. I blew her a kiss and left her to her cuddles.

I found Gunnar in the evidence locker and pulled on a fresh set of gloves as he unzipped the backpack. It was sad to see school things from a girl long gone; her future had lain before her and it had been taken from her.

There were notebooks, an algebra book, a library book – a teen romance – and a laptop. The moisture had gotten to the computer and the books so they were mouldering, but I cracked open the stiffer cover of the math book and could see that Casiah had written her name in it. The computer was probably a lost cause but I put it in with the broken phone and Donovan’s phone to go to the lab.

At least the backpack verified the identity of one of the girls, not that we’d had any doubt.

I’d just settled back into my desk after preparing everything for the plane when the door opened and in strolled one of the vampire king’s men in his black combat gear. Fuck! I pretended to be answering my mobile phone, stood up and hurried through to the back. Hopefully he hadn’t had time to focus on my traitorously thundering heart.

Fluffy, bless him, picked up on the issue instantly and started to bark to cover the sound of my heartbeat. It was so rare for Fluffy to bark that Gunnar came out of his office to see what the fuss was about; my dog would sometimes give a yip, a growl or some playful howls, but he rarely barked with intent like he was doing now.

I continued walking to the back and shut the door into the cells behind me. With the heavy door closed, the king's man wouldn’t be able to hear me speak, let alone catch the subtle, occasional beat of my heart.

The noise had woken Sidnee and she was sitting up, yawning. ‘Sorry,’ I apologised as I went into the magic-cancelling cell and shut the door. It felt distinctly odd to realise I couldn’t access the flame within me; only then did I realise how used I’d become to its constant, reassuring presence.

‘What’s going on?’ Sid asked curiously. Since I was hiding out and it might take some time for the vamp to leave, I told her about Connor’s dad’s people and that I was avoiding them. Sidnee and Sigrid didn’t know I was a hybrid, but they knew about my experience with the British Vampire King and that I’d go to great lengths to avoid any of the vampire monarchy.

Although I was concerned they might have bugged the office, there was no way they could have bugged in here because you needed a key to enter and someone had been in the office at all times. They could easily have planted a bug in reception but not in here.

‘What else have you been doing?’ Sidnee asked. I gave her a rundown of what we’d found out about the girls. By the end, she looked disheartened. ‘No real clues, huh?’

She was right, though I still held out hope that the lab would get something off the dead electronics. I also didn’t have an official cause of death for the girls: there hadn’t been anything visible, no obvious broken bones, but we’d tried to touch them as little as possible and the bodies were decayed down to bones.

‘That poor family.’ Sigrid’s eyes were wide with sympathy.

‘They’re devastated, but I think they’re relieved that the girls have been found. Now they can mourn properly.’

Sidnee asked quietly, ‘Anything further on Svestri?’

I shook my head. ‘Too soon, but I know you didn’t do it. We all do.’ I paused. ‘Any chance you remember something new?’

‘I’ve done nothing but replay it all in my mind, but no. Sorry.’ She looked miserable, and Sigrid stroked her hand comfortingly.

‘Any weird smells or sounds? Anything else you noticed?’

Sidnee shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest to wrap herself tighter in the cocoon of her arms. She rested her chin on her knees. ‘What about Mafu?’ she asked suddenly.

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