Saga laughed a little to herself. “Right, I probably should have guessed that.” If it wasn’t going to be the Temple area itself, of course it would be Holborn—both had been historically known for being legal districts, full of law offices and even the imposing Royal Courts of Justice. “I’m coming from World’s End, but I could probably get there in…about an hour?” She glanced at Avery, who, having clearly heard her, squinted in concern.
“That should be fine. I’m trying to wrap everything up around four p.m.or so if I can manage.”
He sounded tired, and Saga felt sorry for him. She wondered if Reza had already obtained the warrant to get the will from him on top of all the other affairs Bowen was trying to get in order for the Goff estate. The least she could do was take this one small thing off his plate. “Excellent, what’s the address?”
“8 Stone Buildings, London Holborn district—you can’t miss it. We’re right by Lincoln’s Inn Private Gardens. My name is on the building.”
Very fancy.Veryexpensive. “Brilliant,” confirmed Saga. “I’ll see you soon then. Cheers!”
She hung up and turned back to Avery. “I’m sorry, change of plans for me. I need to get to Holborn to see Reese Bowen.”
Avery looked like she was pouting. “Now?”
“I think it would be best. He isn’t exactly the easiest to get ahold of. Should probably take my window while I can to avoid any further unpleasantness from my mother. Well, more than the usual unpleasantness. Do you want to come with? If Reza has already reached out about the warrant, we may be able to get some information about Benjamin before we talk with him.”
Avery considered it. “No, I think I’ll try to interview Benjamin as planned, but find out what you can. We can compare notes afterward. I just might need help navigating there.”
Saga checked her watch again. “Let’s walk a little farther to Earl’s Court station. We should both be able to take the Piccadilly. Will only add a few minutes travel time, and it will keep it simple.”
“Are you going farther or am I?”
“I am. And don’t worry, you’ll have the hang of the system in no time. Especially when you’re not trying to unravel convoluted crimes simultaneously.”
“Unraveling convoluted crimes is sort of going to be a constant thing for me, Saga,” Avery reminded as they jogged across a crosswalk.
“Mm,” Saga waved this information off nonchalantly. They’d gone a fewblocks before she spoke again. “So when you talk to Benjamin, make sure you get a good look at his eyelashes. It can be hard to identify distichiasis unless you’re really close up. It can range from like a few extra to a full set.”
“Does that mean you think Carys is right about the relationship?”
“Honestly?” Saga shrugged. “I haven’t the foggiest clue. She could be right that he’s suspicious, but wrong that he’s Eira’s son… But the condition is rare enough that if hedoeshave double eyelashes, it’s pretty much as good as a DNA test right now.”
“DNA?”
“Oh!” Saga realized. “Em… Well, for starters, you’re definitely going to enjoy reading up on that. Simply put, it’s sort of our genetic identity. Like an index in a book. We have tests that can identify you by your blood, or tissue—any part of you that carries DNA.”
Avery’s eyes were wide with delight. “How long have we had this?”
Saga winced. “Um… I know it was discovered earlier, but I think the practice of using it has been within the last fifty years? We don’t have a warrant for his DNA, but if he’s got the lashes, then maybe we can get one and have the lab test it against the blood under Campbell’s fingernails.”
Avery practically bounced as she asked, “We can do that?”
“Well not us specifically, but yes. So. Eyelashes, keep an eye out—though there is a chance if he has it, he’s hidden it.”
“I’ll have the hagstone.”
“No, I mean there are Mundane ways to do it—typically it’s treated by hand plucking the extra row. Just a simple pair of tweezers is all he’d need.”
Avery winced. “That sounds incredibly uncomfortable.”
The metro whirred with a rush of air as the subway cars approached. “Probably is.”
They filed inside with the others and sat together.
“The thing to look for is eyelashes growing out of the meibomian glands,” Saga lifted her upper lid carefully with her fingers and pointed to the incredibly small, barely perceptible bumps that lined the lip of the lid. “These. So the extra lashes grow from here. See how there’s a gap betweenmy eyelashes and my eye? The eyelashes don’t actually touch?”
Avery moved closer to see. “Yes…”
Saga realized she’d just invited this woman to lean impossibly close to her. Close enough that she could smell the now-familiar fragrance of orange and clove, tinged with something that she could only describe as the smoke of a freshly blown-out candle. She’d never been able to work up the courage to ask if this was a purposeful cologne or merely the result of things Avery worked with daily. She released her eyelid and sat back in her chair, hoping that putting a small amount of distance between them would solve the sudden issue of feeling overheated and uncomfortable. “This is because the…em…the meibomian glands help lubricate the eyes. As you can imagine, having an extra row of eyelashes grow out of there could potentially cause a lot of problems—including infection. But because it’s so hard to get to, even if he does pluck them, he’d likely miss a few, especially if they’re not causing him any pain or discomfort.” She cleared her throat. “Got it?”
