Page 10 of Dark Desire
“Uh, yes.”
“If this has to do with Betty, this is just ridiculous. Let me guess, Beryl phoned you?” Evie shook her head and folded her arms as I glanced between them. Who the fuck was Betty?
“Actually, no. This isn’t about Betty, though I should ask: where were you on the night of 19th December, Miss Knightsbridge?”
“Um, at the church. Where I live. I never go anywhere after dark,” I replied quickly, my eyes darting between Evie and PC Mawdly. “Who is Betty?”
“If this isn’t about that damned cow, what is it about?” Evie snapped. “You are scaring the poor girl, Harry.”
“It’s PC Mawdly when I am on duty,” he scolded her, causing Evie to roll her eyes.
“And it’s pain in my backside when you are not,” she muttered under her breath, but the entire room heard it. Pretty sure that was intentional. Harry, or PC Mawdly, shot her a warning glare as she sat back down behind her desk. She mouthed to me behind her hand, ‘Ex-husband number one.’
Ah. Brilliant.
The officer straightened, making himself seem just that little bit taller and met my gaze.
“You’ve been renting the old parish for the last two months, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And can you talk me through your morning today, Miss Knightsbridge?”
I glanced over to Evie, who gave me a shrug. “I–I, uh, woke up at around half seven and showered, got dressed and had breakfast.”
“In the church?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yes. In my home.”
“Alone?”
“Yes,” I answered slowly.What on Earth was this about?
“And then what did you do?”
“I left the church around half-eight and made my way to the village. I stopped at the cafe to pick up a coffee for Evie and me, then came straight here. I’ve been here ever since.” Officer Blaid was scribbling everything I said into her notepad as I looked between them. “Sorry officer, but what is this about? Am I in some kind of trouble?” I fluttered my eyelashes slightly, trying to appear innocent.
“And you didn’t notice anything unusual this morning as you left the church?”
“Unusual?” I baulked. “Like what?”
“Anything…disturbed?”
"Oh, for the love of all things mighty, will you just spit it out, Harry!” Evie shouted, losing her patience. He glared at her over his shoulder but seemed to agree to put me out of my misery.
“This morning, a report came in that a grave in the cemetery had been disturbed. Frank Tippel’s grave, to be precise. Would you happen to know anything about that, Miss Knightsbridge?” His dark eyes bore into mine as I blinked rapidly. My heart started pounding, and I swear I could feel the blood draining from my face.
“Um, sorry, I, um, I don’t understand. What do you mean by disturbed?” I squeaked. He was dead. The fae was most definitely dead before I buried him. I triple-checked.Shit. Had they found the body? Was I about to be arrested? However long I had left was going to be spent in a jail cell and not riding that beauty of a beast in the sea. No. I couldn’t go to jail. Not today. I had to perform the spell tonight! I had to make things right!
“I mean exactly that. Someone had dug up Frank Tippel’s grave. All the dirt was removed and piled on the sides right down to his coffin.”
“Oh my goodness! That is awful! Who would do such a thing?” Evie gasped.
My eyes swerved from her back to the officers. So, wait. There was no body? They didn’t find the fae man?
“That is…terrible,” I agreed as a little twitch sparked in Harry’s cheek, causing one side of his moustache to lift.
“Yes. So you didn’t notice anything unusual when you left this morning? There hasn’t been any suspicious activity around the area?”
