Saga squinted at the file, suspicious. “You don’t actually know theanswer, right? This isn’t some logic puzzle you use to mess with people?”
“No.”
Satisfied, Saga grew silent, pink eyebrows knitting together in thought. “I think the missing piece is the brain.”
“Obviously.”
“No,” Saga shook her head. “I mean, I think how shediedcould be answered by her brain.” When this statement failed to get her point across, she elaborated. “What would someone even do with a human brain?”
There was a lot, anuncomfortablelot one could do with a human brain. Curses, summonings, even food for various carnivorous beasts… The black market for human organs among the fey had been abundant, difficult to find, and even harder to convict, though Avery knew this was the kind of knowledge privy to only convicts and those determined to catch them.
“What if someone’s trying to re-create Frankenstein’s monster?” Saga asked.
Avery hadn’t even considered that. Avery hadn’twantedto consider that. “What are the magical properties of those herbs?”
“Oh,” Saga exhaled deeply. “I would have to reference my books, that’s less fresh in my mind. Turmeric is for healing and vitality, but its golden color is also used for sun magic or prosperity, success. There’s so many different uses for each, depending on what kind of spell it’s being used in, I’d have to do a lot more cross-referencing.” She squinted suspiciously. “You do know the Frankenstein’s monster question was mostly a joke, right?”
“Mostly.Frankenstein’s monster wasn’t brought to life by witchcraft,” Avery answered distractedly. “I am merely collecting data, trying to understand the possibilities our suspect may have had at their disposal, regardless how improbable they may appear. Once we know all avenues the evidence might fit into, we may begin eliminating theories.”
Saga nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “It’s possible they weren’t taking it for any other purpose, so much as removing the evidence.”
That piqued Avery’s interest, “So you’re not suggesting organ theft,you’re suggesting…murder?”
“It’s ahypothesis,” Saga defended. “I’m just saying if you had a plan to kill someone, and the only evidence that linked you to the murder was in one part of the body—wouldn’t you want to get rid of that part?” Her eyes drifted from Avery’s once more, losing confidence in the theory as she spoke it. “Or, I don’t know… Maybe it was something like an aneurysm ruptured while she was driving.” She shrugged noncommittally and leaned back, frustrated. “But either way that doesn’t explain why anyone wouldreplacethe brain with a bunch of herbs!”
Avery pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Or why no one noticed the skull had already been opened.” Glamours were surprisingly tricky. It was one thing when a living creature with magic coursing through its veins disguised itself; after a while, that was as simple as breathing. But to disguise something disconnected from yourself… Even those far more experienced in the skill typically had to be within a certain radius to maintain the illusion.
“Unless it’s a matter of adding insult to injury,” Saga continued with a new idea. “You said she was a nurse, right? Maybe someone wasn’t particularly pleased with their care—or the care of someonetheycared about. Elderly relative maybe? If she was giving these herbal remedies to one of her patients and they failed to work to someone’s satisfaction…”
“You’re back to murder, then?” It wasn’t the worst theory, but murder meant motive, and if Saga’s theory held any water, it meant revenge was even more plausible. It wasn’t the idea that Iona could be involved that unsettled Avery, it was the thought that she’d have to interrogate her. It caused an involuntary shiver down her spine, and she took a final bite of the pasty.
Saga shrugged. “It just seems improbable you’d not just remove a brain but replace it with a bunch of gunk if the death was accidental. Something like this suggests deep psychological disturbance.”
Despite the penny dreadful–like nature of the hypothesis, in that, Saga had a point. Damn it. “Touché.” The resigned admission was muffledaround the pasty.
“Were there any other markings by chance? Maybe a weird scar?”
Avery shook her head and produced one photo from the file. It was too close for anything brutal to be seen. All that was visible was the collarbone and just below it, showing a clear picture of the ink beneath the bruising. “Just a tattoo.” She handed the photo to Saga, who squinted at it.
“Rache ist…?”
“Revenge is sweet,” Avery translated helpfully as her companion stumbled over the pronunciation.
“In German? Was the victim German?”
“Curiously, no.” Avery shook her head. “It might be from a story, or a poem she liked, perhaps. I’m looking into it further, but to speak truthfully, it is unlikely it will be relevant to the case.”
Saga’s eyebrows raised after examining the photograph. “Unless you’ve already got a solid alibi for a Rachel, I’d say it’s very relevant.”
“Rachel?”
Saga leaned toward Avery again, placing the photograph between them. “I worked in a dermatologist’s office for part of my foundation year, and we did tons of laser tattoo removal, so I got pretty familiar with how ink ages.” Her fingertip lightly traced R-a-c-h. “See the ‘Rach’ of this is a slightly different shade than the rest? And you see this spidering on the other letters, the line work isn’t quite as neat. Rach is a very common nickname for Rachel, and its placement over the heart suggests more than a platonic relationship with your victim. Since the cover-up work isn’t nearly as neat, it’s likely not the same artist—which tells me not only did the relationship end, it ended poorly, and your victim was more concerned with hiding it than having it done well. The brightness of the color shows it was a relatively recent breakup—two to three weeks, I’d guess. There’s no redness, and it’s not flaking, but there’s a layer of dry skin over it that hasn’t exfoliated off yet, so it looks a little duller. Considering most motives relate to lust, love, loathing, or loot… I’d wagerRachis your prime suspect.”
Avery stared. It was becoming a bad habit with this woman. She’d beenchasing that feeling of connection and yet in its place found something far more valuable.
Saga shifted self-consciously. “What?”
The half-fey stumbled to find the words, her lips parting, then closing again. “I’ve never seen that from this side before,” she breathed. “The logical induction, it’s normally what I…” She laughed at herself. “I’m sorry, I must sound like such a fool, it’s just… That was beautiful to watch.”
