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“You said she was injured. Do you think it was bad?”
“No way to tell.”
“But the fact she was bleeding means that she was also attacked, right?”
“Not necessarily. The brutality of the attack on Rachel shows her attacker was frenzied and may have injured themselves with the blade also.”
Her attacker. She means that India could have injured herself while attacking Rachel. This bothers me. I turn it over in my mind, wanting to find a flaw in the logic.
We move on to the next building, an empty office building that had formerly been leased to a bank. The tables and chairs and office furniture are all still in here. Posters and signs are still on the walls. A person has even left a framed family portrait on their desk. It gives the place a ghostly feel as if it is haunted by the spirits of everyone who ever worked here.
We had started today’s search at 6:00 am, an hour after sunrise. It is now the afternoon. Sunset is due at 9:18 pm, and as we are searching unlit outdoors spaces and some abandoned buildings that have been disconnected from the power grid, the search is due to end when it gets dark. For safety reasons Remi says. Our safety, not India’s.
“Do you think she’s here somewhere imprisoned, or do you think she’s here injured and hiding?” I ask Remi.
“I’m more interested in what you think. Do you get a sense of which it is?”
She looks so hopeful that I feel another horrid twinge of guilt.
&nb
sp; Of all of Storm’s team Remi is the one who has always been most encouraging and embracing of the clues my psychic abilities have given us in past cases. How can I possibly tell her they’re gone? That I’m operating blind? I feel like a fraud. I had been hoping that today would spark something but I’ve not had a single twinge or sense of premonition or unexplained compulsion to go a certain way. Nothing at all.
I can’t tell Remi any of this. I don’t doubt her friendship, but nor do I doubt her fierce loyalty to Storm. She will want to tell him.
I can’t afford for Storm to know yet. Not until I know what the problem is and how I can solve it. Because there has to be a way of solving it. In the meantime, what can it hurt for me to join the case? I am as useful as any other pair of eyes surely?
It is hard to persuade myself this is true when Remi had spent half the day driving me around. We should have spent that time searching.
“Do you think India is guilty or innocent?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter to the search.”
“It does,” I insist. “People’s mind-frames affect their attitude to a search and where they think she might be hiding or hidden. Or maybe they want to be seen to be helping but they don’t really care because they think she is guilty. Or maybe they’re scared of her so they’ll skip all the dark areas or the hard to get to spots.”
My frustration must show in my voice because Remi pats my shoulder. “You’re worried because you’re convinced she didn’t do it,” she observes with some sympathy.
“She can’t have done it. She couldn’t even afford to buy wolfsbane potion for herself but she bought two birthday gifts for Rachel. Expensive ones. She cared about her a lot. I don't think she did this. It matters to me whether you do.”
“It could be either,” Remi says, refusing to be anything other than honest. “I need to keep an open mind.”
We trudge down a stairwell to the next level. We had started at the top of the office building. The stairwell is completely dark, there being no windows here. We use special flashlights to guide the way. They are magical assisted and provide a glow as bright as daylight in a five meter diameter.
Next to the stairwell are some men’s toilets and women’s toilets. We go into the men’s and are greeted by the smell of stale urine and a hint of sewage. Taking opposite ends, we push open each cubicle door to check inside.
“Do you always search like this?” I ask. “It must be impossible in this big city.”
“It’s impractical,” Remi agrees. “Our resources would likely be better utilized elsewhere. But now the press have linked this to the Wolf-Claw Killer case, there’s been pressure from higher ups for us to do a thorough ground search. DI Zael’s boss is particularly insistent. Whether India is a victim or the killer, they want her found.”
“Why didn't Storm push back if he thinks this approach is not going to work?”
“It could work,” says Remi. “Especially now we’ve got you on board.”
That makes me feel awful. I wish I could tell her that right now I am as blind as any non-psychic. I’m no help at all if that’s what she wants from me.
“What if it doesn't?” I persist. “Will Storm order us to stop searching?”
“I don’t know. The Met Police are pushing this search hard. They want to be seen to be doing something. They wanted to lead the search, but Storm insisted the Agency would organize it.”
