“What do you do at these conventions?” Griffin asked.
“The furry fandom is male-dominated,” Ben explained. “I believe the latest statistics available say that eighty percent of participants are male.”
“Sounds like a real sausage fest,” I mused, blushing when I realized I’d said it out loud. “I mean ... .”
“It’s fine.” Ben shot me a reassuring smile. “It’s an expensive lifestyle, or can be, depending on how serious you are about it. Costumes cost anywhere from five hundred to ten-thousand dollars.”
Griffin’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am.” Ben shot him a smile. “Some costumes resemble mascots and others are more ... authentic.”
I pictured somebody getting freaky with Bigfoot.
“The conventions feature a lot of role-playing,” Blair explained. “Most of our members get their first taste of the lifestyle from online multi-player games like Furcadia.
“As for the conventions, there’s more than one group now and we’ve expanded into most countries,” she continued. “Obviously the more rigid countries don’t get involved, at least not overtly, but here we have multiple conventions.”
I was fascinated. “Do you attend more than one convention?”
“I go to as many as possible,” Blair replied. “Anthrocon is a favorite, and the Midwest FurFest is always divine. Our convention is only a few years old, but it’s rapidly growing.”
“It’s called Fur-Fetched,” Ben offered.
Griffin’s expression didn’t change. “Awesome.”
“As for the activities, it’s just like any other convention,” Ben said. “We will have vendors. There will be games. There will be dress-up parties and fashion shows.”
Griffin dug in his pocket and handed a business card to each of them. “I need contact information so I can call when I know more. Just out of curiosity, was Mr. Thorpe married? Who was his next of kin?”
“I’m really not sure.” Blair was sheepish. “I know he wasn’t married. He did mention being engaged once, but that was years ago. He said she tried to make him ashamed of his lifestyle, so he ended it.”
“I believe his parents are dead,” Ben said.
“Okay, we’ll see what we can dig up,” Griffin said. “Maybe he has a sibling out there.”
“Maybe,” Ben agreed. “As for the convention, this won’t force us to cancel, will it?”
Brett was the one who answered. “Your conference fees are paid and you’re good to go. Don’t worry about that.”
“Thank you so much.” Sadness infiltrated Blair’s eyes. “We should have a memorial for him, Ben. We need to mark his passing with more than just an announcement.”
“Definitely,” Ben agreed. “Let’s start planning now.”
We left them to their plans, none of us speaking until we returned to the lobby.
“Does that help?” Brett asked.
Griffin held out his hands. “No. And I still don’t understand this furry thing. They seem like nice people, though.”
“Maybe you should have Cillian do some research,” I teased.
“You’re joking, but I just might do that.” Griffin dragged a hand through his hair. “There’s really not much I can do until I get the autopsy results. If he drowned, it’s possible it was an accident.”
“Or a suicide attempt,” Brett said. “I noticed they tried to rule that out right away.”
“That’s normal. People don’t want to admit they missed signs so they say it’s not possible. If his bloodwork shows he was drunk, it likely was an accident. He might’ve gone for a swim and lost his way back to the island.”
“It would be nice if we were dealing with an accident for a change, or even murdering people instead of monsters,” I mused.
“It definitely would,” Griffin agreed. “I need you to take me back to the yacht club. I think I’ve done all I can here for right now.”
Four
I returned to the gate room to finish my shift and then swung by my apartment to gather clothes before heading to Grimlock Manor. In truth, while cozy, the apartment didn’t feel like home. I’d only spent a handful of nights there before Braden and I became involved. Now Grimlock Manor felt like my home, which was ridiculous because the house resembled a castle ... turrets and all.
The foyer was so overloaded with items — suitcases mostly — that I almost tripped as I entered. Thankfully Braden caught me before I went down.
“Falling for me again, huh?” His lavender eyes twinkled with delight as he swooped in and gave me a kiss. He was handsome, almost criminally so, with an impish grin that had me going warm all over whenever he deigned to flash it.
“Maybe a little,” I agreed as I let him pull me tight for a hug. “Okay, probably a lot.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He held me close a moment longer and then released me. “How was your day?”
For some reason — and, yes, it was a girly reaction — it felt miraculous that I had someone to ask me that question. “It was ... interesting.” I flicked my eyes to the stuff on the floor. “Do I even want to know what this is?”
“Aisling and Griffin are moving back in with the baby.”
“For how long?”
“I believe the zombie apocalypse was mentioned.” Braden was all smiles. He was happy to have his niece back under the same roof. His sister was a different story. They snarked at one another constantly. Of course, they loved one another unconditionally, too. Cormack said they were the most similar of all his children. They understood how to needle one another. It wasn’t always a comfortable relationship, even for those who weren’t directly involved.
“You’re not fooling anyone,” I said. “You want Lily here as much as your father does.”
“I do,” Braden readily agreed. “But he won’t let me hold her. It’s depressing.”
“I’m sure you’ll get your turn.”
“I have my doubts.” To my surprise, Braden grabbed the suitcases and headed for the stairs. “Everyone is in the parlor. Dad got Lily a new onesie. I’ll take these up and meet you there.”
The small gesture made me smile. “That’s a very mature and loving thing to do.”
He scowled, as I knew he would. “I just don’t want anybody else to trip. Dad says we’re having a special dinner tonight.”
“Prime rib?” Dinner at the Grimlock house was never simple. I’d never seen any of them heat a can of tomato soup to pair with a grilled cheese, but there were certain favorite meals, and the Grimlock children all went wild over prime rib.
“He didn’t say, but I’m hopeful. I had three extra charges today because Aisling was off. I could eat my weight in beef.”
“That seems like something you should have emblazoned on a T-shirt.”
“You kid, but I would totally wear it.”
I grinned as I watched him head up the stairs before I turned toward the parlor. As usual when Lily was present, the entire family was grouped around her as Cormack doted on his only grandchild.