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“Oh no,” says Mr Garrett. “Rachel paid for that all by herself. She was so proud of making her own way. Always a high flyer.”
“And India?”
“She was supposed to get a job but she couldn't find anything to suit her,” says Mrs Garrett. “Rachel was worried about it. She said Charlie helped India out a little, but she didn’t approve of India relying on him that way. She said they’d only known each other five minutes. It wasn’t healthy.”
“Has India had boyfriend trouble in the past?” Leo asks. “Any violence?”
“She’s had her pick of them. Every one worse than the last,” says Mrs Garrett. “That’s why she was so happy to catch Charlie.”
“Did you ever meet Charlie?” Storm asks. “Or speak to him on the phone?”
“Never. They’d not been seeing each other long. India was protective of him.”
“Secretive?” asks Storm.
“Yes,” says Mrs Garrett..
“No,” says Mr Garrett at the same time.
“Women who date violent men often repeat the pattern subconsciously,” Storm observes. “Is it possible that Charlie could have been violent even if India never mentioned it?”
“Maybe,” says Mrs Garrett, looking stricken. “India wouldn't have wanted to admit that to us. Maybe that’s why Rachel didn't trust him.”
Chapter 7
DIANA
I am not sure whether I like Shoreditch or not. The area is a concrete jungle. A hive of industrial complexes and entertainment enterprises. Cafés and nightclubs and bars and banks and offices all crammed together. And homes too. Tightly packed communities in cramped old apartment complexes or flashy high rise new builds.
Everything is here. Something for the poor and even more for the rich. The graffiti here is trendy. Considered artwork, it is allowed to stay and doesn't vanish overnight.
I like its energy. I like the hodge podge mix of people, everyone minding their own business and not looking twice at the others, no matter how different they are. City slickers and hipsters and headscarf wearing grandmas. I don’t like the lack of greenery though. There are no parks and open spaces, unlike leafy Notting Hill where I live. Where India and Rachel had chosen to live.
Remi has organized the search like a military operation. Every abandoned building and warehouse is on her list. Every team has been split up with a mix of experienced and inexperienced searchers.
Printed instructions have been given out to ensure every parking space and alleyway and fenced off garden is checked. The back of the sheet contains the names and phone numbers of key Agency and police contacts, just in case someone finds something relevant. Remi had ticked off the ground already covered yesterday and assigned everyone new properties to cover today.
I had stayed with Remi’s team. It had quickly become obvious to me that Remi had high hopes about my psychic skills aiding the search.
She had run the maps past me, the lists of all the properties, the buildings’ names. I’d scrutinized each one, I’d said their names out loud, all to no avail. Remi had driven us around all the likely spots this morning hoping it might spark a vision for me. She had taken me to the original crime scene in case I picked up a trail from there. I had touched Rachel’s blood now dried on the tarmac. I had retraced her last few steps. I had smelled the bin she had been found under.
When none of that had given me a result, Remi had refused to be discouraged.
She and I had joined the search proper, arriving at an old theater complex that had been shut down five years ago due to lack of funding. We had painstakingly searched each floor, each room, every old toilet and broom cupboard and roof-space and overgrown outdoors area.
The team had found nothing. I found nothing.
“How do you even know India is in this area?” I ask.
“We found a car abandoned not far from here. It was completely burned out. But there was a smudge of blood on the pavement near it. India’s. So we know she was injured and bleeding. And the blood contained wolfsbane remnants. We think she was a regular user. Enough to impair her physical abilities. She can’t have gone far.”
“Why would she use wolfsbane outside of full moon?”
“She’s dating a human. Some werewolves use it to tone down their strength to more human levels.”
“I can’t understand why she would want to do that.”
Remi sighs. “Female werewolves almost never date humans. Their pack dynamics simply do not allow it. But in instances where it does happen it isn't uncommon for them to use wolfsbane in that way. Either because their partner insists on it, or because they prefer it themselves.”
