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I raised a hand, my broken one, but it was feeling much better in its cast. “Hold on, the curse? What curse? You sold me a cursed knife?”
She smiled sweetly. “Yes. You could not kill your love with it, so I knew that would end the curse, but I didn’t expect you to break it forever. It always came back to me, no matter how many times I tried to get rid of, for that is part of its curse, but you tamed it, and then shattered it. It will never enslave another again.”
I rubbed my forehead. “You’re saying that you murdered people under compulsion? The knife made you do it?”
“The one who gave me the knife, he bound me to it and him when I used it to take my first life, a very bad man who… But then I was his personal assassin, bound by will to the blade.” She still sounded quite cheerful about it.
“But if there is no proof, he’ll walk, and you’ll hang,” the Cat shifter growled.
Ah. He was more interested in this cursed knife trader than the vampire. Good. I sat up and leaned over my knees. “If she has no motive, can’t you tie the murders to someone else? Why did he have you kill them, business?”
“Sometimes business, sometimes pleasure. He didn’t explain his motivations to me. I was just a silent tool, until the Cat caught me, and then you rescued me. No one has ever rescued me before. It made me want to try to resist the compulsion, as I hadn’t done for some time.”
“Um. Good to know that helped you. Who is this creeper handing out cursed knives and enslaving innocent vampires?”
She shrugged. “His name’s Mr. Good. He’s supposed to be human, but he’s got an entire fleet of criminals working for him. He’s the head of the most notorious criminal element today. He’s not as bad as some, as in, he’s not interested in opening a gate to the underworld and unleashing hell on earth. I think that he’s a demon, but it’s hard to tell.”
I looked at the vampire. “You can’t tell?”
She shrugged easily. “He stays in the shadows of Song. He’s very subtle, very cautious. He could certainly be a demon, but I’ve never seen proof of any kind of magic, any kind of otherworldly skills other than the magical objects he collects and uses.”
“Okay, so if we knew who sold this dagger to Mr. Good, if we could tie the sell to him, you’d have a strong case that she got it from him unawares, and then she’d have to deal with the first murder, but not the other ones.”
The Sphinx ran a hand through his lustrous locks. “Sure. I’ll just run down to The Dealer and ask him for his lists.”
“Sure. Can’t you do that?”
He stared at me for a long time. “No one wants to get on the Dealer’s bad side.”
“He’ll cut off your magical weapons supply or drugs?”
“Weapons, elixirs, rare or expensive objects of any kind will go through his hands, through his auction hall, or wherever he deals those things.”
I frowned at him. “You believe her.”
He shrugged. “She turned herself in for protection from Mr. Good.”
“Then you need to get to the bottom of this, find proof, and keep my friend from paying for crimes she didn’t commit!” My voice was getting louder, and then my dad walked in, another body that took up a lot of space, like the Sphinx.
“You’re disturbing my daughter,” he said in a low voice that came with a charming smile that knocked the cat shifter back a step.
“We were just leaving,” he said, pulling the vampire out by the arm.
“No, they weren’t,” I argued, throwing my blankets back and going after them. “Promise me that you’ll keep her safe.”
The Sphinx gave my father a look, like, ‘you see this rock and hard place I’m stuck between? You’re the rock, she’s the hard place, because gargoyles,’ only he was actually probably saying nothing like that, because cats don’t like puns.
My dad smiled at me. It wasn’t a nice smile, but the kind that had just snapped the last piece of the puzzle into place. “My heir is taking a personal interest in your case. It will be good for her education to watch and participate as an intern to the excellent lawyer I will give the vampire.”
We all just stared at him. “I’m going to be an intern?” I asked.
“Mm. This is exactly the kind of case that Marigold would love to take, all the publicity, good vs. evil, the corrupt taking down an innocent, although the vampire will need a makeover if she’s going to play anything close to innocent. Still, it can be arranged.”
The cat scowled. “You’re going to turn my city into a circus.”
“It’s Singsong City. It’s always a circus. Any objections, my heir?” he asked, baiting the hook and dangling it with a fat, juicy worm of injustice that my gargoyle protector soul couldn’t resist.
I took it, hook, line, and sinker. “That’s right, daddy dearest. It will help fast track me on my path as a criminal defense attorney.” Whatever. It wouldn’t kill me to be an intern, except I probably wouldn’t have time to work as a janitor. I sank down in my bed and vaguely waved at the vampire, who looked surprised but not entirely delighted by this turn of events, while the cat looked like someone had stepped on his tail.
