Page 38 of The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid

I wondered what had happened to the other one. According to Thomas’s notes, Cadence’s backpack had been pink and Casiah’s was purple. It looked like Svestri Donovan’s wife wasn’t the only one who’d get a death notification today. Sometimes my job sucked, but the twins’ parents deserved closure. At least now they’d have something to bury and maybe the girls’ spirits would finally rest. My heart ached for them all.

‘Thanks, Matilda, I’m so grateful – you’ve been a real help,’ I said. ‘One of the girls mentioned an underground bunker. Is there anything like that here?’

Once again, the hag disappeared. She was gone far longer this time – it was ten minutes before she reappeared. ‘Not here.’

My heart sank; I’d been so sure the bunker would be nearby. ‘Never mind. Thanks for looking.’

‘Matilda will look more for vamp girl,’ she promised then sank from sight. Say what you liked about her, she was a good person and a hard worker.

Gunnar and I loaded our stuff. He opened two body bags and we carefully put the remains in them, then he took the SUV and headed to the morgue whilst I returned to the office in Sidnee’s car to fill out the paperwork.

When he returned, we’d notify the families together. Svestri Donovan’s wife was first up, and since she was Mafu’s daughterI wondered how strong she was. Whatever he was, Mafu was incredibly strong. I’d seen that first hand.

Perhaps he could have lifted the equipment.

Chapter 23

Aoife startled me while I was waiting for Gunnar to come back. I felt the cold wind again and turned to see her floating in the middle of the room. ‘I couldn’t find any girls.’ Her voice jabbed through me.

‘None?’ I asked.

She shook her head and relief swept through me. The fact that Essie and Kate couldn’t be found in the spiritual realm made me hope they were still firmly in the land of the living. ‘Thanks, Aoife. You’ve been a great help.’

She nodded, knowing I didn’t cope well with her voice.

‘Are you doing alright?’ I asked.

She rolled her eyes and disappeared. Okay: she was probably fine but it sucked that she was stuck in the full throes of teenage existential angst. She’d never had the opportunity to know herself as an adult and now she never would because she was frozen into the mindset in which she’d died. I’d been through a lot in the last five years – a heck of a lot – and I was a far better person for it. I wished that she could have had that personal growth.

Gunnar pulled up outside the office and honked once to summon me. As I hustled outside and climbed into the SUV, Igave him Aoife’s terse report. ‘Let’s hope that’s good news,’ he murmured.

‘Yeah.’

Given the number of times he’d arrested Svestri Donovan, it was no surprise that Gunnar knew the way to his home. The Donovans lived at the caravan park. I’d only been there once before, searching for answers on my first murder case. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Unlike the other caravan I’d visited, this one was on a different row, double in width and much newer. In the driveway was a brand new Ford Bronco Raptor, averyexpensive vehicle. We’d have to search it if Haavale gave us permission or get a warrant. The vehicle hadn’t been found at the crime scene so we didn’t have an automatic right to examine it.

Even though Donovan was the victim, Cadence and Casiah had positively identified him as one of their kidnappers. Procedurally, though, we had no statement from them, which made things murky, especially as any statement Gunnar or I put in might look like we were making up shit to free Sidnee. We needed more evidence before we brought it to the council. I hoped we’d find some here. A girl could dream.

When Gunnar knocked, the door was opened by a beautiful Tongan woman with long dark hair and a shade too much make-up. The smell of food wafted out of the house. She frowned at us. ‘Gunnar?’ She looked at me with no recognition. ‘Is everything alright?’

‘Haavale.’ Gunnar nodded at me. ‘This is Officer Barrington.’ He shifted uncomfortably. ‘Can we come in?’

She blinked. ‘I guess.’ She held out the door and we went inside to her small but neat lounge. It looked freshly cleaned.

‘Why don’t you take a seat?’ Gunnar suggested. She swallowed hard and sat, tensed for bad news. He cleared his throat. ‘We regret to inform you that your husband is dead.’

Stunned, she sank back into the cushions though she didn’t appear to be particularly cut up by the revelation. Everyone processed things differently and not everyone wailed and sobbed at a death notification – but if anything the emotion that flittered across her face looked like relief. ‘What happened?’ she asked finally.

‘He had extensive head and facial injuries. We’ll know more after an autopsy.’

She nodded slowly. ‘Not an accident then.’

‘No, not an accident,’ I said softly. ‘Do you mind if we do a brief search of the premises?’

She wrapped her arms around her waist. ‘You do that. I haven’t got anything to hide.’

Gunnar and I pulled on some gloves. Luckily, Haavale believed in minimalism and there wasn’t much to search. Plenty of clothes hung in the wardrobes, and there was a neat and tidy bathroom with no unusual medication in the cabinet. The spare room was full of guitars and vinyl. There was nothing to indicate that Svestri had ever done anything untoward – but there was the expensive car on the drive. You didn’t get that on a fisherman’s salary.

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