“Unicorn?” Saga echoed, incredulous.
“A being in a medical profession with the natural gift of healing and strong shape-shifting capabilities. Seems obvious now that it’s presented before me,” said Avery. “Though the,” she pantomimed the knife in his forehead, “gave the me the idea, I must confess.” She shifted around the body, attempting to examine his forehead through the mess. “I think we’ll find this blow was done postmortem to hide the remnants of the horn they took.”
Lahiri turned away from Saga to peer where Avery was indicating. “In this form?”
“He may have partially shifted to heal himself or even as a form of defense,” answered Avery. “It’s also not uncommon for a shifter to revert near death. It’s the body’s last attempt at survival—it’s easier to heal your own physiology. I forget you primarily work in this field with Mundanes.”
“I’ll notify the magistrate,” said Lahiri. “We can’t risk Scotland Yard handling any of this evidence.” He stepped back into the hallway to make the call.
“Does this mean we were wrong?” Saga asked, before bringing her sleeve up to her nose and mouth again.
“No, I do believe this was the man performing the rituals.”
“Then who killedhim?”
“Perhaps someone found out what he was doing before we did,” suggested Avery. “Though the simpler and more likely scenario is that our killer was eliminating a partner. I imagine that horn will come in handy for resurrection.”
“A partner?”
“Up until this point, every move was careful and calculated. The execution was disconnected—sterile even.Thisis a crime of passion: a kitchen knife is an improvised weapon, the number of stab wounds and imprecise manner suggests anger. If we find organs are missing, as I suspect beneath this mess we will, they were likely taken as an afterthought—just like the horn. Possibly because our second killer realized that without Doctor Campbell, their objective was going to be severely hindered. Which means our accomplice likely does not have the knowledge for medicine, Campbell’s gift for healing, or perhaps any natural magical talent at all.” Avery moved to the refrigerator, pulling open the freezer. “Icebox has been raided. Likely to try to keep the organs as fresh as possible.”
Saga shook her head. “If their goal remained the same—if this partner was still after organs to revive Eira—why did it come to this?”
“Things weren’t going according to plan, for starters. Peopledied, remember?” Avery closed the freezer and crouched down to examine the floor. “For healing magic to be utilized, one has to firmly believe they are not causing harm.”
“So the solution is kill more?”
“Kill theproblem,” said Avery simply.
“That doesn’t make sense to me,” said Saga.
Avery looked up from the pool of blood and gently prompted, “Have you ever snapped at a friend or family member while trying to organize a soiree of some sort?”
“I guess?”
“Imagine that party was illegal and involved life-threatening consequences. Then consider that you were assured that no one was going to be harmed in the process of throwing that party, only to discover your friend was very wrong.”
“I’d be horrified,” admitted Saga.
“Probably a little furious too. But now, thanks to your partner you’ve gone too far, you’re in it now—but you still need more organs to complete the process.”
“So you tell yourself it’s justified,” Lahiri scoffed, returning to the room. He pocketed his mobile once more. “They’re sending a team of our own for collection and cleanup. If they arrive before we’re finished they’ll stay out of your way until you’re ready.”
“Hm,” was the only acknowledgment Avery heard him at all. She cocked her head to the side and pointed to a unique void in the pools on the floor. “Here, you can see where someone might have stood. Next to a rectangular object of some sort.” Her brow furrowed. “Impossible to tell foot size—they were well outside the edge.”
“Could be the tip of a woman’s shoe based on the shape,” offered Lahiri.
“There are a few high-end men’s styles that point similarly at the toe,” said Saga. “The rectangle could be a cooler or something similar to haul away the organs?”
Avery stood with a resolved sigh. “Saga?”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to search the rest of the house for anything that might paint a clearer picture of what they were up to. Could you examine the body?”
“Me?”
“Nothing in-depth, just enough that we have a preliminary before the medical examiner does the whole formal process. This is our first violent crime of the case, and I would like to have an idea of what we are up against as soon as possible. The gloves are enough.”
