Chương 44: Chapter 43 - Discussing the Case

Stakeouts are boring. B. O. R. I. N. G. Boring. An hour in, I decided that Darius could keep his real badge. If getting one required sitting in a car, doing nothing, for that long, then slap a label on my chest: Hello! My name is Miss Civilian. At least I didn't have to stay conscious for all of it. I had a vampire with sleep-deprivation superpowers. Without meaning to, I faded out. The count didn't bother waking me. The nightmare seeped up from the peaceful nothingness.

When I jerked myself awake, the car door was open. Darius was beside me, his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey, it's okay. You're okay." I gulped and tried to slow my breathing. There was someone else out there, standing behind Darius. I knew it was a woman—I could see her skirt and long pony tail—but it was too dark to make anything else out.

"Are you all right?" Darius asked. My face flushed, but I nodded. The vampire didn't look like he believed me, but he decided not to press the issue.

"Anything new?" I shook my head.

"How long was I out?"

"Almost three hours. Our relief is here. I was briefing her on the situation before we left."

"Kay."

"I'll only be another minute."

"Yeah." Darius shut the door, and I took the chance to stretch in my seat. I was checking the time on my phone when the count climbed into the driver's seat.

"Seat belt," he said. I put mine on.

"Did anything happen while I was asleep?"

"No. Frost's been very quiet."

"Have you had a chance to talk to a judge or something?"

"Not yet. We only have a few judges in this area that we can appeal to for one of our warrants. If they're busy, we'll have to wait."

"There are judges that know about the Torr?"

"They know about the Torr, they know about magic, and they know that our cases won't be tried in a normal court." I wrapped my arms around my stomach.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Darius asked.

"I'm hungry."

"Hungry?"

"Yeah. You may not remember, but people get like that sometimes." He glanced at the clock on the dashboard.

"It'll be close to dinner when we get home."

"I had an early lunch so we could get to Ashworth's place on time. An early lunch means I made it. It was a peanut butter sandwich and some leftover cake. Can we stop somewhere?" Vasil switched lanes.

"You'll ruin your appetite."

"Is that a no?"

"I'll find a place to eat. Promise me you won't tell Igor." I was thinking McDonald's or something. Why I thought that when Darius was choosing the restaurant, I will never know. He settled on a five-star, sit-down, Italian joint. It was so authentic, I wondered if the cook was going to come out, pinch my cheeks, and call me Piccola. With the image of Igor's scowl looming in my mind, I ignored my growling stomach and all the amazing smells, and ordered something small.

I started working on the bread while we waited.

"Is it always like that when you have a nightmare?" Darius asked. I could delay a bit by chewing, but not for long.

"What do you mean?"

"You were…restless. Toward the end." I forced myself to shrug.

"I wouldn't know. I'm asleep when it happens."

"Is it upsetting?" Ha! Upsetting. That's one way to put it.

"I know how he felt, Darius," I said.

"If we're right, and it was Frost, he didn't know that his partner was going to shoot Wayde." The vampire's eyes stayed on me for a second, then he turned to watch a busboy clear off a nearby table.

"That wouldn't surprise me. It's possible they were only there to steal the device, then Wayde came home unexpectedly and caught them. You said that in your dream you were trying to talk to him?" I nodded.

"Frost might have been trying to talk him out of calling the police. From what you said, it wasn't making much of an impact."

"No," I muttered.

"The other person panicked and shot him." I frowned and shook my head.

"What is it?" Vasil asked.

"They panicked and shot him…but then they were calm enough to use the device to steal his soul?" A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"You don't think they panicked?"

"They brought a gun to what was supposed to be a burglary. I think they were willing to use it." Darius sat back in his chair and raised a hand to his face.

"That gives a different feel to the case, doesn't it? Two perpetrators. Both might have been willing to break in, but one of them was eager."

"And if they made a replica of the scroll, why didn't they make a replica of the device?"

"It would have been harder to replicate."

"But they weren't planning on killing Wayde. That means they must have thought he wouldn't notice the theft."

"Emerra, what exactly are you trying to figure out?"

"Everything!"

"We rarely know everything before we make an arrest. We figure out the most likely suspect, and we gather evidence."

"Do you think that Frost knew Louis Summer was murdered?"

"I don't know."

"I asked what you thought, Darius—not what you knew." The vampire sighed.

"I don't think he did. I think that's why he left when he heard that Summer was dead. I think it took him by surprise and he needed some space to think about it." We paused as a waiter came to lay down my plate. I picked up my fork.

"What do you think Frost was thinking about?" Darius folded his arms.

"He might have been trying to decide what to do. If he's as innocent as you seem to think, Frost probably wants out."

"Then why didn't he talk to us!" Darius smiled gently.

"It sounds like you still want to help him." I jabbed at my food.

"It's hard not to empathize when I spend most nights in his head."

"Maybe he thinks he can walk away without turning himself into the police."

"I thought we agreed that Frost didn't shoot Wayde."

"He still broke into Wayde's house. If Frost turned himself in, the prosecutor might be able to do something about the charge of being an accomplice, but Frost would still be tried for breaking and entering. That would be enough to ruin his career."

"Then how can he get out of the situation?"

"That depends on how much he's involved and what the murderer is like. For the professor's sake, I hope he hasn't finished translating the scroll."

"Why?"

"As long as the murderer needs him, he's less likely to be killed." I pointed at the vampire with my fork.

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"I knew you would have helped him."

"My concern is far less personal than it is practical. I don't want him to wind up being the third soul." I put down my utensil.

"You think he will be?"

"It would fit the picture of our murderer. We found evidence that someone was on Wayde's computer, looking up information on how to translate the scroll. Let's say that it was Frost. Considering how often it happened, it's likely that Wayde was there while it was going on. If Wayde approved of translating the scroll, why would they have to make a copy of it?"

"Because Wayde stopped approving at some point."

"Probably around the time that he learned it took human souls to make the device work. If he knew that fact, then Frost and the murderer would've also known. Despite learning that it would require the death of three humans, the murderer was willing to continue the research, and as you pointed out, when he—or she—broke into Wayde's house, they brought a gun."

"And when they shot Wayde, they immediately stole his soul."

"They want to use that device, and they're willing to kill to do it."

"Why did they kill Summer?"

"Try to imagine if Jacky hadn't been there. When we asked Ashworth, he said the Torr might have sent someone out. If they did, the person would have found one fake scroll, as expected, sitting in Wayde's bookshelf. That would have been the end of the matter as far as the Torr was concerned. By stealing the scroll, Summer drew attention to it and, ultimately, to himself."

"Why would that matter?"

"Because he could have told us that he'd given Wayde the device, and we would have searched for it."

"So the murderer had Summer commit 'suicide' and planted the murder weapon in his apartment."

"Once again, that would have been the end of the story. The only reason we were confident it wasn't a suicide was because of Jacky. It's worse though."

"It sounds pretty bad already, Darius."

"If we're right, and Frost didn't know that Louis Summer had been murdered, that means that the murderer is either killing and sealing souls in secret—which would show that they don't care about working with Frost—or they no longer need him."

"Because Frost's already finished translating the scroll." I put my hands down in my lap.

"Has he?"

"He wouldn't even admit he was translating anything. He said that Kiel was 'mistaken.'" We both fell into a morose silence. Darius's phone rang. He answered it while I picked up my fork. The utensil never reached my food. Two lines in, I froze to listen.

"This is Vasil… Lost him? You mean Frost?" The vampire saw me staring and put the call on speaker. The volume was low, but I could hear it if I strained.

"—sorry, sir." I didn't recognize the woman's voice.

"Tell me everything," Darius said.

"From the beginning."

"After you left, I saw that Frost had left some of his window blinds open. I called a sparrow and used it to watch him. He was writing a letter. A long one."

"How do you know it was a letter?"

"He put it in an envelope and sealed it. Sir, the envelope has your name on it." Vasil stiffened.

"Did he post it?"

"No, sir. He left it sitting on his desk. He took something out of a drawer—""Do you know what?"

"I'm afraid not. His body was blocking my view. Five minutes later, he left his house and got in his car. I started tailing him."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I was about to, sir—that's the problem. When I looked down to dial your number, I lost him in traffic. I spent about ten minutes trying to find him, then I called you."

"Do you know which way he was heading?"

"East. I think he was heading toward the city, sir."

"Go back to the house. Call me if he returns. Call me the moment he returns."

"I will. I'm sorry, sir."

"These things happen, Suarez. We'll deal with it." He hung up. I said, "Why would Frost write you a letter but never mail it?"

"Miss Cole, I've been working this job for a long time. There's been only one other time when someone involved in a case wrote me a letter and left it sitting in their house."

"What was the letter?"

"A confession. It was brought to me after we found her body."

"What?" The word squeaked out. I swallowed and tried to find my voice.

"Do…do you think that Frost is going to kill himself?"

"No, I think he's going to confront the murderer. I think that letter was written in case he never makes it home." My newly returned voice rose.

"Is there anything we can do?" Vasil scowled.

"Darius?" The vampire raised his eyes to mine. It wasn't quite as intense as when he was interrogating a suspect, but it was close, and it felt like a punch to the chest.

"Who pulled the trigger?" he said. My panic surged.

"I don't know. I never saw them."

"You know as much about this case as I do. With your dreams, you know more than I do. Who pulled the trigger?"

"I told you, I don't know!"

"Emerra, it's all right. I know." The count's soothing tone made me aware of my ragged breathing. I slowed it down. He went on, "But if Frost is going to meet the murderer, we have one chance to stop him. All I'm asking for is your best guess and your reasons." I was staring at nothing, but all the details of that nothing etched themselves into my brain. The dark brown of the table. How the burgundy napkin matched the upholstery of the bench. The smear of marinara sauce on the edge of my white plate.

My voice felt divorced from my throat.

"Joel Aubert."

"Why?" Darius said.

"We need a magician."

"Ashworth said they didn't need a magician to work the device."

"They needed one to tell them the device was real. When Drix touched it and felt the magic, she knew the scroll was more important than people realized. Maybe Aubert did too."

"We don't know if Aubert ever touched the scroll."

"It was Wayde's new favorite in the real-or-fake game. Aubert said he went over there for beers. Do you really think he wasn't forced to play?"

"Why Aubert and not Drix?" I wracked my brains for some kind of logical reason.

"Drix is more powerful than Aubert," I said, "so Aubert's more likely to want the power."

"The device was made to turn a mundane into a magician."

"Okay, sure. That's what it was made for, but do we know that it won't increase the power of someone who's already a magician?" I paused.

"Does Aubert know?"

"If it could increase the power of a magician, then Drix and Aubert are equally likely to want it." That wasn't true. There was no way that could be true, but I didn't know if I could explain it.

"Fine!" I said.

"Does Drix live in the city? Because Joel Aubert does." The vampire pulled out his wallet and dropped some money on the table.

"That's good enough for me. Let's go."