Saga’s heart ached. “Oh, Avery…” She stopped herself. This had been difficult for Avery to share, and she suspected the last thing her friend wanted was pity. “Are you saying no one would have helped Osian because he was a changeling?”
“I am saying he was a highly visible figure in human society, but held no authority among ours. Given the council’s desperation to remain hidden from mortal eyes and keep us as segregated as possible, I would wager there are few who would risk global exposure to help one human woman.”
“What about some kind of illegal magical aid?”
“Maybe he tried to find one.” Avery dragged her gaze back to the photograph in the paper. “Do you know what happened to him?”
“Mamó said he became a recluse. Stopped going out.”
Avery considered a new angle. “Did he stop or did someone stop him?”
Saga sat with this thought. “You think he got in over his head?”
“I may not agree with all of our laws, Saga, but I have met the sort of creatures who chose to break them. A changeling with Osian Goff’s financial resources pushed to that level of desperation? They would have eaten him alive.”
Saga leaned back in her chair, feeling defeated and heartbroken. “Shame they didn’t know Doctor Campbell back then. Their story might have had a happier ending.”
“But would Doctor Campbell have had a happier ending?” Avery frowned thoughtfully. “Is there anyone connected to this current case who might know the full story of what happened to Osian Goff?”
Saoirse would have known. Whether she would have told them was a different matter entirely, but there was little doubt in Saga’s mind that Saoirse knew far more about the Goff family than she ever shared. Shere-scanned the newspaper article. Eira had been in her mid-twenties when her mother passed. “Possibly Carys, I suppose?”
“The person publicly humiliated in her cousin’s will?”
“The woman is in her seventies: you really think she’s a suspect?”
“I think it would be unwise to dismiss her without asking a few questions.”
“Like what? ‘Are you capable of overpowering a man by stabbing him multiple times with a kitchen knife?’”
“If you’re feeling candid, by all means,” joked Avery. “Personally, I’d like to know how long exactly Alistair Campbell had been a friend of the Goff family.”
61The FOXC2 gene provides the body with instructions for making a protein that plays a critical role in the formation of many organs and tissues before birth. Researchers also believe that protein has a role in other developmental processes such as the formation of veins and the development of the lungs, eyes, kidneys, and cardiovascular system.
To be plain, it is a very important gene in the grand scheme of DNA.
Chapter 23
Avery
Located in the southwestern corner of Chelsea, Varney House was a relic of the days the borough had been known as a “village of palaces.” Built in the late seventeenth century on eight acres of land said to be gifted by William II himself, it had remained in the Goff family, passing to the eldest child. Over the years as titles lost meaning and pockets were emptied, acres were liquidated and sold until only the main house remained.
Though the entrance on King’s Road was still separated by a tall wooden gate and wall, the house was now comically nestled beside an antique store and across from the World’s End Public House. To any unaware of its existence, it might have looked like a private park perhaps a bit overstuffed with old plane trees that reached over the aging pale brick wall.
For Avery, it was disorienting. She had not been a complete stranger to the area, but walking down King’s Road, watching everyday motor vehicles putter past was a constant reminder that things were no longer what they’d once been. King’s Road was now just a name. You did not need special dispensation to traverse it—you did not need royal connections. It was a road like any other with shops and pubs. Public transport even had a designated bench nearly just outside the gate of the manor house—people from all walks of life clambered on and off two-story carriages.
Saga’s hand gently caught the crook of her elbow and pulled her out of the way of a man so preoccupied with his cell phone that he nearly barreled into Avery. “It must look a lot different since the last time you saw it.”
Avery’s eyes flicked to Saga, then back to their surroundings. “Thisparticular street was never familiar to me.” She thought better of her wording, not wishing to sound like she was dismissing her companion’s attempt for compassionate connection. “But yes, it is very different.” She gestured to the main thoroughfare. “Did you know this road was originally built specifically by Charles II as a private route to make it easier to travel from the palaces in Kew?”
“I did.”
Of course, she did—Saga was bright and knowledgeable, why shouldn’t she know the history? Yet, she couldn’t help but feel a slight sinking feeling in her chest.
Avery’s face must have betrayed her disappointment, because Saga quickly added, “But I’ve always wondered how they enforced it. Was it guarded or something?”
