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I talk to her as I walk. “Gosh, Beastie. Wish I had your life. I bet you’ve never been as tired as I feel right now.”
I can hear her purring contentedly. My satchel is vibrating. The feeling makes me giggle. “I hope you caught something tasty for your dinner, because all you’re getting tonight from me is kibbles again I’m afraid”
I reach into my bag to tickle her head. “But as soon as I get this consultancy paycheck, which I’m absolutely definitely totally going to get, I’m going to buy you a huge package of special treats and some juicy cat food with real meat in delicious jelly that all the adverts say you’re going to love. Or maybe I’ll get you some real fish. Some salmon so fresh that you’ll think you’re in heaven. Would you like that? Hmm?”
I stop talking to her as I get out my key to let myself into my building. Chatting with my bag is going to make my neighbors think I’m mad. Clutching my satchel securely against my chest, I jog up the stairs, eager to fall into bed, and let myself into my apartment.
The first thing I see is the envelope that someone has slipped beneath my door.
The sight of it laying not-quite-innocently on my carpet makes my stomach flip-flop. It is only Tuesday night. Rent isn’t due until Thursday night. Which means I have a whole day and a half to solve this case. So why is my landlady already sending me a message? My abdomen clenches. Smithers can’t have called her, can he? How the hell does he even know who my landlady is?
I chew my lip as I rip open the envelope. Inside is a gift card with an apple tree on front. The sharp scent of burnt apple rises from it and then disperses so quickly that I am not sure if it was real or not. Inside is a message.
Dear Diana,
What does a girl deserve who sticks her nose where it’s not wanted? How to make such a girl suffer? Oh, I know, I’ll destroy the thing you care about most. Like you’ve destroyed mine.
Still think you can save it? Here’s a clue. Catch me if you can.
Beneath the words is stuck a slim golden coin with a woman’s face on it. She is smiling. A single drop of red fluid, now dry, is dripping from beneath the coin. I unstick the coin to look at the other side and find the same face, this time not smiling. And where the coin had been is a tiny red clawed pawprint, the drop of blood coming from it.
The shock of finding it here in my home hits me like a hammer. My fist clenches as I stare at it, almost crumpling up the card before I make myself stop. This is evidence. I can’t destroy it. I drop the card and the envelope it had come in onto my bed. I get a plastic bag out of a drawer in my kitchenette and carefully put everything inside it. I should take this to Storm. He would know what to do with it.
And yet I can’t take it to Storm. Not until I’ve figured out what the hell it is. Because one thing is for sure. The real Devil Claw Killer would never give me a warning that he knew where I lived. This has to be from the copycat.
I pace up and down my room, reading the note inside the card over and over again through the plastic bag. One line stands out. “Like you’ve destroyed mine.” This person thinks I have destroyed a thing they care about. How could I have possibly done that? Is it because of Lynesse? Is there really a link between me and her?
What the hell is this? Why send it to me? Why now? There must be a reason.
AngelBeastie makes a little yowling noise inside my satchel, making me jump. Feeling a little guilty, I quickly let her out. She nips my hand to show her displeasure, and then leaps onto my bed, curling up quite comfortably, completely unaffected by my agitated state of mind. At least one of us feels comfortable right now.
I pour her some kibbles and fresh water, in case she feels like eating something later. And then I resume my pacing.
Gosh, I’m so tired. If only my head was clearer. The only name that comes into my mind is Beatrice Grictor. But the damn woman has the Ambassador for an alibi. I try to think who else might have sent me the envelope, but my mind keeps insisting that it is Beatrice. But Storm would say that I was being irrational, especially as I can’t answer why she would send it to me.
Because you trespassed on her private property, says the little voice. She pretended she was okay about it, but clearly she is furious.
I shake my head. Somehow I cannot imagine perfect pristine Beatrice Grictor in her kitten heels creeping up the stairs to my apartment to slide this under the door. How would she even know where I live?
You found out where she lives, says the little voice. Why shouldn’t she be able to find out where you live? And do you really think that a woman you believe capable of murder isn’t capable of leaving you a threatening note?
But the problem is Storm already thinks that I am hung up on Beatrice Grictor for no reason. Even I can’t fully explain why I feel the way I do about her. Something about her has got to my back up right from the start, and it isn’t just the way she was flirting with Storm.
Gosh you’re slow, says the little voice. In the morgue waiting room when you were talking to Raif Silverstone’s ghost, what did Beatrice Grictor do?
“She… She didn’t do anything.”
Exactly.
“She didn't react. She wasn't surprised!”
My mouth drops open. She’s right! Beatrice Grictor didn’t react at all when I started talking to Raif! She should have at least looked at me weirdly if I had been talking to thin air, and as far as she is concerned that is exactly what I had been doing. And then she had made that fuss about the water leak. What if she had broken that tap on purpose to stop me from talking to Raif?
I slap my hand against my forehead. That is exactly what she must have done. She broke th
e tap on purpose and I fell for it. And her ruse worked, because next thing I knew Raif was gone.
Stunned by this epiphany, I sink into the chair beside my little table. I can’t believe I was such a fool. Beatrice Grictor is as dodgy as they come. A manipulative sneak. And nobody else can see it. I stare the coin in the little plastic bag. So what does the coin mean? What is she going to do next? If she really is a killer, then she is capable of anything.
