Max cleared his throat. ‘Melissa’s here to see you, boss.’
Rover slammed the phone down and threw the tennis ball to the floor. It rolled all the way over to hit me on the foot. For a moment I wondered if I should pick it up and throw it, but then I remembered that this was Rover – you needed to wait and see what his mood was like before you made any jokes.
Wanda always said he reminded her of the kind of pit bull who could be really friendly as long as you didn’t make a wrong move. But Wanda would never make the wrong move, anyway. Rover had even given her a collar – a black, studded ring – which meant that she was to be treated as one of their own. None of the weredogs would ever give her the kind of hassle that Dob had just given me outside.
‘Oh. Wanda’s friend.’ He looked at the card table. ‘Game’s over everyone. Go take a break.’ As they dropped their cards and rushed towards the bar, Rover waved me in. ‘What can I do for you? Does Wanda need any help?’
I pushed down a teeny tiny leap of envy. Wanda inspired love and admiration in almost everyone she met. Whereas I … well, I tended to inspire questions about Wanda. ‘Wanda’s fine,’ I said. ‘I’m here because I’m clerking for Miles Master. Goldie’s lawyer. He’s sent me to get character references from you and the rest of the staff so we can figure out who’ll be the best character witnesses at the trial.’
‘Whoa there. What about asking me if I can be an alibi? Or if I have any other information? Talking about character references makes me feel like you’re just giving up on poor Goldie.’ As he spoke there was a low but persistent growl in the back of his throat. ‘You’re not giving up on him, are you Melissa?’
‘I’m not giving up on anyone,’ I insisted. ‘I’m just doing my job. You already know that he’s saying he murdered Decon Phelan, don’t you?’ Between the information Miles had given me before I interviewed Goldie, and the things that Wanda told me over yesterday’s lunch, I knew that Rover was well aware of what was going on. ‘I know that you chased Goldie into the station on Warren Lane and begged him not to confess. Then Finn Plimpton spoke with you, while Wanda questioned Goldie.’
Rover’s growl grew louder. ‘Yeah. I know that the stupid pup is pleading guilty, but like I told Finn yesterday, I also know he didn’t do it. If you’re his lawyer, then you should be trying to figure out who did do it, instead of just trying to get him the lightest sentence.’
On that we agreed, but right now I couldn’t say so. I was hungry again, and if I had to hear Goldie growling at me one more time when my stomach was already growling loud enough to wake the dead, then I might just scream. ‘Actually, it’s not my job to solve crimes, Rover. That’s what the Wayfarers do.’
‘Yeah, but … you’re a Wayfair. Your coven were solving crimes long before there was ever a police force. You can’t really tell me you’re just going to do what that idiot Goldie says, and go ahead with his guilty plea, are you?’
I pulled the cap off my dicta-quill, and set it against an empty form. ‘I just need you to give me a character statement, Rover. That’s all.’
His growl became a grunt. ‘Hmph. You’re not much like Wanda, are you?’
8. Hard as Nails
I was just at the door to the street when Max caught up with me.
‘I can smell that it didn’t go well,’ he said. ‘You know Rover’s bark is worse than his bite though, right? He’s just worried about Goldie. We all are.’
I looked up at Max. I was tall, but unless I was wearing heels I always had to crane my neck when I was around him. Being so close to a tall guy made me miss Mack all the more. He still hadn’t called me, but then why would he? I’d dumped him. Right now, he probably never wanted to talk to me again.
Another sharp pain hit my stomach, but this one was probably down to self-pity and misery instead of hunger. I forced my mind back to the conversation. ‘I get it. But I don’t see what I can do about it unless someone gives me something I can work with. I know why I think he’s lying, but what about you? Why do you think Goldie is innocent? I didn’t think you and him got along all that well, so how can you be sure?’
‘Look, we might not be bosom buddies. But we run with the same pack. And when you run with someone every full moon, you get an idea of what they’re really like. Goldie is a good dog. That’s why I know he’s a good man, too, even though you wouldn’t think it to look at him. He didn’t do this, Melissa. If I had to bet on it, I’d say he’s covering for Nails.’
I blinked. ‘Nails?’ Wanda had mentioned her the day before. ‘The werewolf from the Lupin Lane pack who owns Moony’s? The murder victim’s wife?’
Max nodded. ‘That’s the one. Goldie would never admit it, but I’ve seen them running together on and off. For a werewolf and a weredog, they sure did seem to be getting on well. I haven’t seen them together for a while, but I’m pretty sure I smelled her on him the day after the last full moon.’
Well that was interesting. ‘Have you said this to Wanda?’
‘Yeah. She went and tried to talk to her yesterday afternoon. Nails wouldn’t tell her anything, though.’
‘What makes you think she’d tell me anything, then?’
Max shrugged. ‘Because you’re not a Wayfarer.’
Max was so very right. Unlike almost everyone else in the Wayfair coven, I definitely wasn’t a Wayfarer. But that didn’t mean that the murder victim’s wife was going to talk to me, did it? And even if she would, I knew Miles wouldn’t be happy about me questioning her.
So the question was, was I going to act like a lawyer, or was I going to act like the Wayfarer that I’d always wanted to be?
‘Y’know what?’ I said determinedly. ‘I might just go and pay this Nails a little visit.’
≈
I walked to Lupin Lane instead of magicking myself there. Partially because I needed to work off my lunches, but mostly because I wanted to put off going to Moony’s for as long as I possibly could. My brave determination was still there, it was just being tamped down by more sensible feelings – like the urge to run home and let this be someone else’s problem.
But the thing about growing up in a crime-solving coven is that you learn to think everything is your responsibility. I agreed with it, actually. The Wayfairs had worked hard for Ireland’s supernaturals for many years before the system changed. It might have seemed like a thankless job, but if the coven hadn’t done it, I’m not sure anyone else would have stepped up to the plate.
I was going to question Nails, despite bringing on the wrath of Miles and his hand of interruption. I just needed to psych myself up to the task.
Finally, after a lot of dillydallying (and maybe a stop or two to browse in shops at things I didn’t need) I arrived at Moony’s. Unusually for the establishment, there was no bouncer out front, but there was a lot of noise coming from within. Mournful howls, angry howls … basically a whole lot of howling. The sign on the door said they were closed for a bereavement, but I pushed it open cautiously and walked inside.
I was immediately surrounded by growls, snarls, and bared teeth. ‘Get out of here witch!’ said a large man with a beard that stretched to his waist. His head was completely bald, but I guess he’d used all his hair up on the beard. ‘Can’t you see we’re in mourning?’
There was a chorus of agreement. I was beginning to think maybe I should leave the pub and return to my dillydallying when Callum Cool stepped out from a corner and said, ‘Oi! That’s Melissa Wayfair, you stupid sods. Mack’s bird.’
Callum was the drummer in Mack’s band. He was also the guy who used to send me romantic little gifts like underwear and topless pictures of himself. I know – you’re wondering why I chose Mack over him. It’s a mystery how I ever resisted Callum’s charms.
‘Ah. Mack’s bird. Well, why didn’t you say, darlin’?’ The bearded man put an arm around my shoulder. ‘Come on in then. What’s your poison? A nice pint of cider? This place does an almighty Wolfbite.’
Callum brushed his arm away and
replaced it with his own. ‘Nah. Melissa doesn’t drink Wolfbite. She’s sophisticated. Aren’t you darlin’?’
I pushed Callum away from me. ‘What’s with everyone calling me darlin’? And I’m not Mack’s bird. I’m his girlfriend.’ Used to be his girlfriend, actually – but I didn’t think I could say that right now without crying.
Callum sighed. ‘And don’t I know it. More’s the pity. You know he never comes in here though, right?’
I gritted my teeth. ‘Believe it or not, I am not wandering around like a lost puppy looking for Mack. I want to talk to Nails. Is she here?’
Callum pointed to a sign behind the bar. It said: No Customers Beyond this Point. ‘She’s that way, if you dare, darl– I mean, Melissa. But I doubt she’ll be wanting to talk.’
≈
When I went through to the back room, Nails was standing with her back to me, staring out the window with an empty glass in her hand. She had hair that fell in thick blonde waves all along her back and fingernails that were at least two inches long.
‘This is a private area,’ she said with a snarl, turning to face me. ‘I’m in mourning.’
‘I know. I heard about your husband. That’s why I’m here, actually.’
‘Oh? And who are you?’
‘I’m Melissa Wayfair. I–’
She interrupted me before I could say anymore, narrowing her eyes and saying, ‘You’re a Wayfarer. The Lupin Lane pack don’t talk to Wayfarers.’
‘Actually, I’m not. Some days I wish I was but … I’m not. I’m training to be a lawyer. I’m working with Miles Master, the man who’ll be representing Goldie in court. I’m trying to get to the bottom of why Goldie would have killed your husband.’ That much was true, anyway. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, by the way.’
She snorted. ‘That makes one of us, love. Decon was a waste of space, so he was. I’m glad to see the back of him.’
‘Oh. But you said … you said you were in mourning, didn’t you?’
‘I am in mourning. Not for Decon though. For Goldie. I can’t believe he murdered him for me, the idiot.’ She was fixing herself a drink, pouring lager and cider into the same glass, then adding a large shot of poitín and a tiny dash of Moon Blossom cordial. When she was finished she turned to me. ‘Wolfbite?’
I shook my head. ‘Thanks, I’m not thirsty.’ I was, as it happened. Just not for that.
‘I’ll pour you one anyway. You look like you could do with something strong, love. Something to perk you up. A bit pale, so you are. Sit down there and have a rest before you fall over.’
I guess it was time to redo my glamour spell, then. I took a seat in the armchair she indicated, and she placed a drink in front of me. ‘Nails, are you saying that you think Goldie killed Decon for you?’
She sat across from me on a pristine white couch. I had the sudden urge to ask her how she kept it hair free at her time of the month, but that probably wouldn’t go down too well.
‘Me and Goldie, we used to have a thing,’ she told me. ‘But we had to keep it a secret – what with him being a weredog and me a werewolf. Rover might have been all right about it, but Decon definitely wouldn’t. He wasn’t just the bouncer here, y’know. He was the leader of the Lupin Lane pack, too.’ She wiped the beginnings of a tear from her right eye. ‘He found out about me and Goldie a few months ago, and he was not happy about it. So I did what I had to do to keep Goldie safe. I ended things.’
She began to clutch her glass so hard that I was afraid it would crack. She quickly gulped the drink down and slammed the glass on the table. ‘But that wasn’t enough for Decon. He gave me an ultimatum. He said either I married him, or Goldie died.’
I gasped. ‘That’s horrible.’
She gave me a sad smile. ‘It really is. People say I’m hard as nails, Miss Wayfair – some people even joke that the phrase was coined around my name. But when it comes to Goldie, I’m as soft as a cub. Yet again, I did what I needed to do to keep him safe. I married Decon. I had no choice.’
I wanted to tell her she did have a choice. But just because I used to date a werewolf didn’t mean I knew anything about the way the Lupin Lane pack did things. All I knew was that they were feared by almost every other pack around. Callum had been a member once, and while he might be hanging out with them today, I knew he’d been relieved to join the Call of the Wild. The band were a pack in their own right, but if they weren’t so famous, I doubt Callum would have gotten away with his defection.
‘Did Goldie know about the ultimatum?’ I asked. Because if he did, it’d be a pretty good reason for him to want to kill Decon.
Nails shook her head. ‘I never told him the reason I married Decon. He wasn’t happy about it, but he accepted it.’ She sucked back some tears. ‘That was Goldie all over. He seemed like a real hard man on the surface, but beneath it he was a proper gent. He respected me, y’know? And I loved him all the more for it.’
‘And in all this time you and Goldie never saw each other again?’
She sighed. ‘No. Not until the last full moon. The thing about full moon is that it’s an emotional time for werewolves and weredogs alike. While we’re human, we can put on whatever false face we want to the world. But once the moon is full, well … we tend to lose our voices and find our feelings.’
She reached into a box of tissues on the coffee table and blew her nose. Some of it missed the tissue and headed towards the Wolfbite. She drank it anyway. Considering the manner in which I’d been consuming everything around me lately, I was hardly one to judge. ‘Me and Goldie, we broke away from our packs on the same night. We didn’t plan it, but somehow we just both wound up in our same old secret meeting spot. I suppose he missed me as much as I missed him, so he felt drawn there.’
‘Was it in Luna Park?’ I had the feeling it wasn’t, but I had to ask.
She shook her head. ‘No. In the Phoenix Park. No one knows about that spot but us. I think … I think maybe that tryst of ours sent Goldie over the edge, and that’s why he killed Decon. We might not have used words that night, but he would have been able to sense how unhappy I was. At the full moon I never would have been able to hide it.’ She shook her head, crying in great big wet sobs. ‘The stupid, stupid idiot. I never would have put him down as a murderer. Never. But it must be what happened. It must be. Why else would he confess?’
She blew her nose again. ‘I might have been miserable with Decon, but I never would have asked Goldie to kill him. And honestly, if I’d known what Goldie was planning, I would have done it myself first. I wish I had. Then I’d be the one in Witchfield instead of poor Goldie.’
I let her sob for a few seconds more, observing her. I didn’t doubt a word she said, not for a minute. Max might have been right about Goldie covering for Nails, but it didn’t seem as if she’d been let in on the plan. She and Goldie would do anything for one another. I finally took a sip of the Wolfbite. It was strong enough to down a dragon.
‘Do you think there’s any chance he could have confessed to protect you, Nails? Maybe Goldie thinks you killed Decon, and that’s why he’s saying he did it.’
Her eyes widened. ‘You think …’ She shook her head, exhaling some air. ‘Y’know what? That sounds like exactly the sort of thing Goldie would do. There’s just one problem with his harebrained plan though, love. I didn’t kill my husband. So if Goldie thinks he’s covering for me, then you have to let him know – he’s wrong.’
9. Doorbells are Superior to Violins
After my conversation with Nails I was surer than ever that Goldie was innocent. I went back to the office to work on my report. Miles was still out and about, but I knew once he saw this at dinner that he’d have to agree I was right. We could do much more than choose the best character witnesses for Goldie – we could find out the actual truth and save him from jail.
I’d received summonses to dinner from lawyers before. Usually it was to try and convince me to go along with something nefarious, but on one or two occasions it had
simply been because my boss had been a sleaze. I got many weird vibes from Miles, but sleazy wasn’t one of them. Obnoxious, yes. Irritating, definitely. But I didn’t for one minute think that he was going to try anything funny over dinner.
Now that it seemed like I might be able to do something good for Goldie, I felt a whole lot better about working for Miles. But the rest of my life didn’t feel nearly as good.
Mack still hadn’t called.
Sure, I knew I’d made the right decision. Well … maybe. Possibly. Okay, I’d made a stupid on the spur of the moment decision to dump him for his own good, and now I regretted it more than anything in the world.
I wanted him to be happy, and being with the Call of the Wild made him happy. But maybe there was another way. Maybe I’d been so exhausted and hungry that I hadn’t been thinking straight when I called things off.
And if he would just call me back, then we could figure something out. Like … I could finally start to use my vampire powers again and compel the She-Wolves to like me? Okay, maybe that was one of the more evil plans I’d come up with (and I’d never go through with it, obviously) but if we both wanted this to work, then we could put our heads together and think of another way.
If we both wanted it to work.
As I stood in my bedroom that evening, preparing for the dinner, I hoped to the goddess that Mack would call me soon. I was wearing the Ádh Stone anklet he had given me, and wondering just how many of those nine stones worth of luck I’d have to go through before I heard his voice again.
‘You’re awfully dolled up,’ said Princess. ‘Isn’t this just a boring dinner with Miles?’
‘Well, yeah,’ I replied. ‘But that doesn’t mean that the evening couldn’t end in a less boring manner. Maybe with Mack finally phoning me.’
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