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“Four unconscious men were dumped in our doorway at shift change, all severely injured. Know anything about that?”
“Why fucking would I?”
Walker interlaced his fingers on the table and leaned forward. “They are two members of a suspected pedophile ring, a violent drug dealer and an abusive husband. Still not ringing any bells?”
Tyler slammed his fist on the table. “I’m here aboutLucien, Walker. You know, the murdereryou’ve let get away?”
Walker leaned back in this chair again, watching Tyler closely. “Last year the Chief Inspector came for a visit and found a man chained to the railings in the car park. His name was Jason Parr. He was a suspect in a series of rapes. He had a hair band of one of the victims in his pocket. It led to his conviction.”
“I’m not here for a history lesson.”
“Parr saidyouput him there.”
Tyler clenched his fists under the table and was careful not to blink.
“He said you jumped him in a bar,” Walker continued, “and next thing he knew he was chained up in the rain with a hairband he claims never to have seen before.”
“I don’t know no Jason Parr. And that’s nothing to do with this.”
“So these degenerates left bleeding on our doorstep before dawn…” Walker narrowed his eyes. “Nothing to do with you?”
Tyler stood so suddenly that his chair crashed to the floor. “You better start taking this seriously, detective,” he said, stabbing the table with his finger. “Hear me? You don’t want a guy like me as your enemy.”
He made for the door.
“You want Lucien found, Tyler?” Tyler halted with his hand on the door handle but didn’t turn around. “You ask your sister what she knows about this mess,” Walker said smoothly. “Then you give me a call.”
Tyler glared over his shoulder. “What’s she got to do with it?”
“A well-connected woman, your sister,” Walker said, standing and straightening his tie. “What she doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing, right? See what she knows. Then we’ll talk.”
Tyler stormed out of the police station.
He searched his pockets for his phone, remembered he’d smashed it against his bedroom wall and swore. He got into his car and drove into town with his jaw clenched so hard it hurt. He parked, made for the nearest phone shop and hovered outside the doors until it opened.
The assistant’s enthusiasm soon died when he realized that Tyler’s money might have no limits but his patience was quite the opposite. He left the store with a new phone and an even worse mood and dialed a number from memory.
Emerald didn’t answer.
Tyler fired off a series of furious messages and made for theCafe Rougeon Low Petergate, somewhere that didn’t serve alcohol so somewhere he was unlikely to be spotted by anyone he knew. He ordered a black coffee and took a table in the corner, out of the way of the breakfast crowd.
He tried Emerald again with no luck and gulped the scalding coffee. He scrolled several news sites, searching for any mentions of haemophiles. The local papers were still full of articles about the Undying Baron winning the custody case for his adoptive daughter earlier in the year with the help of his human partner, Jesse Truelove. The kid was going to a local school, and Von Magnusson had just been elected to the school board. Reactions were…mixed.
Tyler shook his head, attempting to dispel the memories of standing outside Oswald House, his blood hot with anger, convinced a little girl was being abused behind the high walls.
Then Lucien had turned up.
He quickly switched to the national sites, trying to find anything about any more cases of haemo-on-human violence and what was being done about it. All he found were posts about the haemophile’s parliamentary representative Ivor Novák’s latest campaign to allow haemophiles to legally marry. Tyler’s stomach clenched. He hurriedly scrolled away.
The next thing he found was a video of a press conference around the de-registration of haemophile communes by one Magister Dragomir Soroka. The very sight of the white-faced, white-haired haemophile made Tyler’s blood run cold. The eyes, black and empty, reminded him of a shark’s.
Why should our names and addresses be listed for anyone with ill intent to find? Why should we suffer perpetual scrutiny when all we want is a chance to live our lives in peace?
Tyler put the new phone screen-side down on the table. He finished the coffee. If anything, the caffeine increased his tension, but he ordered a second cup.
By the time he was done with his second drink and Emerald still hadn’t returned his call, his patience was frayed to the breaking point. He left the cafe without leaving a tip.
Nasir, Emerald’s secretary, started when Tyler strode past his desk.
