I was about to ask how long they’d been seeing each other when Herne entered the room, followed by Angel. They sat down and the meeting began. We covered all the usual points, including two new potential cases that had come through in the last twenty-four hours, but we all knew we were just marking time until Deputy Mayor Serenades got there.
We didn’t have long to wait. Angel hustled to open the elevators when Maria texted her to say she was on the way up. She returned with two women behind her. One was a police officer, the other the deputy mayor.
Deputy Mayor Serenades was about my height, with shoulder-length blond hair pulled back in a sleek French braid. She was trim, wearing a navy blue pantsuit, and she carried a large briefcase. The look on her face was grim as she entered the room.
Herne stood, extending his hand. “Maria, I’m glad to see you.”
“Thank you, Herne. This is Officer Wyles.”
As the police officer took her place near the open door leading to the hall out into the waiting room, Viktor hurried to pull out a chair for the deputy mayor.
I wasn’t even sure what a deputy mayor did. I knew she was adjunct to the mayor, but how much actual power she wielded, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to ask, though, because it seemed rude. Instead, I just murmured a hello when Herne introduced her to the rest of us, and shook her hand as she reached across the table to everyone in turn.
As soon as she was settled in a chair, she lifted her briefcase onto the table. “The mayor asked me to talk to you because we have a problem and we need your help. We’d like you to investigate a case that’s cropped up. The police department is having trouble with it, due to the delicate nature of the circumstances.”
What was this? She sounded far more worried than her expression showed.
Herne frowned. “What’s going on?”
“We have a serial killer on the loose, and this is one case we’re trying to keep out of the papers. The police have investigated every lead they can find and come up with nothing. Somebody’s going to put two and two together soon, and when they do, the media will be all over this. We don’t want them to find out. Whoever the killer is, he’s smart, powerful, and deadly.”
That brought the mood of the room to a crashing halt.
After a moment, Herne said, “All right, I assume you need our help because you think the killer isn’t human?”
“We have no clue, though I think we can assume so. We need your help because there are a lot of the magic-born in this town, and we don’t want the guilds going all vigilante, which they would.” She frowned. “Dealing with the magic-born can be tricky. They’ve been demanding a spot on the United Coalition council and I think they’ll get it, which isn’t exactly a problem, but they’re more powerful than most of the other groups put together. Except, perhaps, the vampires.”
“And just why would the guilds go into vigilante mode?” I asked.
Maria Serenades let out a long sigh. “Because the killer is targeting necromancers, psychics, and bone witches. If he—we think it’s a he, we don’t know for sure—is targeting anyone else, we have yet to see. But it’s only a matter of time before the guilds notice and demand results.”
I whistled. “That’s specific. The psychics—?”
“They’re mediums, all of whom could talk with the dead.” She shook her head. “Right now, we think the killer has a very specific target range, but we could be wrong.”
“Just how many victims have there been?” Herne asked.
“Too many.” Maria accepted a cup of coffee from Viktor, looking glum. “Five that we know of, over the course of five weeks. With the first two, we didn’t put the pieces together. But after the third murder, one of the detectives assigned to the case noticed the pattern. Of course, Chief Johalla brought it to our attention. She keeps in close contact with the mayor.”
“Chief Johalla? There’s a new chief of police?” Last I’d heard, the head of the department was Fae. Johalla wasn’t really a Fae surname.
“Right,” Maria said, fiddling with her napkin. “I suppose you’ve been too busy to notice, but last month Karston, the former chief of police, resigned amidst allegations of corruption. Evidence surfaced that he had been accepting bribes from a rogue vampire who was paying him to hide evidence surrounding several vampire kills. Heidi Johalla was the deputy chief and she took over the position.”
Most of the Seattle police force was made up of members of the Light and Dark Fae Courts. The new chief was going to find the going a little rocky, but I doubted that the cops would deliberately botch an investigation into a serial killer, especially one preying on the magic-born. The last thing the Fae Courts would want was a war with the magical community. Nobody in their right mind would want that.
“All right, leave us all the information and we’ll go over it. Who do we contact if we have any questions?” Herne stared at the mound of files that Serenades was pulling out of her briefcase.
Maria sighed, glancing at me before answering. “I recommend going through Abril Gonzales. I’ll leave you her number. That way, there won’t be any reluctance on law enforcement’s side to cooperate with you.” She had a sad smile on her face.
Even though she hadn’t come out and explicitly said it, I knew exactly what she meant. The cops weren’t eager to work with me, at least those of Fae blood. They didn’t like having to sully their hands working alongside a filthy tralaeth.
“Thank you,” Herne said, inclining his head to indicate he understood. “We’ll get started on this. Five victims so far, you say? Do you have any hope that the killer might have moved on?”
Maria shook her head. “No. The killings are occurring at the rate of one a week. The last victim was found yesterday. Each victim has been found on a Tuesday, so there has to be some significance to the timing. But we know that most of the victims weren’t killed where they were found—the ME has discovered evidence that they’ve mostly been killed in what we think is a rural area, judging by the residue dirt, seeds, and debris on the bodies.”
“Is the murderer using the same dump site?” Viktor asked.
“No, actually. One of the victims was found in his home. They’ve been scattered around the city. According to the medical examiner, each of the victims died the day before they were found—they were killed on Mondays. Someone always finds them the next day; they’ve been placed in areas where it would be almost impossible for someone not to find them. Several of the victims were near recluses, as far as we can tell, though some had friends and family.” She frowned.
“Do you think the killer wants to get caught?”
Maria shook her head. “No, or they’d leave more evidence. I think he’s either sending a message or looking for notoriety.”
Herne picked up the first file and glanced inside, grimacing. “Messy.”
“Don’t be fooled,” Maria said. “Yes, the deaths are messy, but not disorganized. There’s very little evidence to show that any of the victims fought back, so they either were subdued or under a charm. Or they knew the killer and didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. We thought about bringing in someone to check for magical signatures, but since we’re dealing with magic-born victims, there will always magical residue because of that.”