"Why didn't you take him up on his offer?" Violet asked.
"Because he's a murder suspect, and I don't fancy being his next victim," Minali snapped. "Scaly-skinned creep."
Violet laughed softly. "They don't have scales, you know. That skin's soft as a dolphin's. If I liked men, I'd let him glide between my thighs any day. Not that he's ever offered. He must really like you."
"I make it a rule not to have sex with suspects," Minali said stiffly.
Violet didn't stop laughing until they stood outside the door that hid the Mer nudist colony. "Sven didn't do it, you know," she said as the door hissed shut behind them. "Allie's certain of it."
"Allie the plumber?" Minali scoffed. "What would a plumber know about catching a killer?"
Violet's hand landed heavily on Minali's shoulder. "You remember what I said about how dangerous Mer are?"
"Sure, but you didn't mean Allie. She's…" Minali meant to say Human, but she stopped. Allie had picked up the baby mermaid and breastfed her. Her husband was Human, which meant… "Allie's a Mer?"
"That she is."
Minali choked down her surprise. "But that doesn’t make her omniscient. It just means she has a tail." She thought about it for a moment. "Huh. A mermaid plumber. I bet that tail comes in real useful at times. Maybe the gills, too."
Violet lowered her voice so Minali could barely hear it. "Look, you said you never heard of Mer before now. Did you ever hear of any Mer who fought in the war?"
Minali racked her brains, but had to admit defeat. "No. I never heard of one before this week."
"What about Halcyon?"
That rang a faint bell. Minali had heard that name before. "It was only a rumour, but even the Human police heard about Halcyon. A guerrilla unit that hit civilian targets, racking up quite a body count. Even after the war was over, we still had procedures in place to keep watch for them. Guerrilla fighters rarely stop fighting even when the surrender's signed, and they're hard to catch, so you can never be sure if you have all of them. At least, that's what Earth's history tells us."
Violet shook her head. "Halcyon targeted secret military facilities, where prisoners were kept and tortured. Halcyon was Mer."
Minali's jaw dropped. "I thought you said they didn't believe in violence – that merpeople never fought?"
Violet's eyes darkened. "They didn't. Until a Human took a Mer prisoner. They tortured him before they killed him. Only then did the Mer join the war. Not for any of the reasons the rest of us fought, but for justice. Mer justice. For the first time in centuries, the Mer council appointed a Mer enforcer: Halcyon."
It took Minali a moment to process this, and when she did, she could scarcely believe it. "One Mer killed all those people?"
Violet nodded, looking expectant.
Minali had worked as a detective too long for the pieces to refuse to click together. "No. You expect me to believe Allie killed thousands of people? Thousands of my people, and she's roaming around the Complex now, free as a bird?"
Even as the words left her lips, more pieces fitted together. Allie's spacious house. Violet's reverence for the woman as she shared all she knew. The gift of chocolate.
"Stars," Minali breathed. "Why didn't I know earlier? All the Intra should know about her."
Violet shook her head. "The higher ups know, and those of us who need to know. Me, for instance, and now you. Allie likes things the way they are, and we tend to respect her wishes."
And not blow her cover, Minali added silently. The Mer woman had one hell of a cover. Even Minali had allowed the woman into her home without a qualm.
But she wasn't paid to speculate about a woman who wasn't involved in her case. She had a murder to solve. "Allie didn't say anything about Sven not being guilty. Instead, she talked about how he hated Humans and she condemned the crime."
Violet smiled. "Oh, Allie's a politician to the core. She was laying the boundaries, that's all. When she said if he'd done it, he didn't belong in their community. That meant she would leave him to Ama Seldova justice. A justice system that says a man's innocent until proven guilty. A Mer enforcer would never allow Ama Seldova justice to take precedence over Mer justice, except if he's innocent. If a Mer commits a crime, or a crime is committed against a Mer, Mer justice applies. Always. So Sven can't possibly have committed the murder. If he had, he'd be dead already."
"So who did?" Minali asked.
Violet shrugged. "If I knew, I'd whip out my handcuffs faster than I can take off a bra. Tomorrow, we'll have to turn our collective gaze away from sexy Sven. I hope you got a good look today."
Minali's cheeks grew hot. She'd gotten an absolute eyeful today, which she doubted she'd ever forget. "Want me to drop you home?" she asked, stepping onto the flyer.
Violet nodded and stepped up behind her. "As long as you're not going to change your mind and go join Sven."
Minali snorted. "In his dreams." The flyer buzzed off.
Later that night, Minali discovered that Sven had claimed her dreams, too. When the hot naked merman came to her in her sleep, she succumbed so quickly to his charms that she startled herself awake, horrified at what her dream self had nearly done.
Sex with a suspect? She'd rather suck Phil's lollipop, Minali groused to herself as she attempted in vain to get some Sven-free sleep that night.
Seventeen
Minali was at lunch when she got the call about the autopsy results. She had to ask the mortuary technician to repeat himself twice before she understood.
"What do you mean, the girl's not Human?" she asked.
"Humans got a digestive system. Your girl doesn't," came the reply.
"So she's a Meta?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. Never seen anything like this. Isn't in my book of Meta biology neither. All the beings who have a body have to eat. This girl never ate a thing in her life."
Minali didn't know what to make of this. "But you said the cause of death was drowning. The girl had a mouth. I saw it. How can she not have a digestive system?"
"No idea. She had lungs, heart, muscles, all the things needed for circulation. Just not eating and drinking and what comes after." The technician coughed. "She aint never had anal sex either, if you get my drift."
Minali dismissed the bite of annoyance at the technician's unprofessional comment. It was normal to check a murder victim for signs of rape. Of course he'd checked her nether regions.
"Pretty sure she was a virgin," the technician added helpfully.
No signs of rape, just like she hadn't had any bruises. Or a stomach.
"Do you even have a name for her?" Minali ventured, not feeling much hope.
"You mean like something that isn't Jane Doe, or her race or whatever? Nope."
Minali's heart didn't have far to sink. This case was getting more hopeless by the minute. "So when will I have your report?"
"Already emailed it to ya."
Minali thanked him, and ended the call. She waited a moment, then called Violet.
"Tell me you have something," Violet said.
Minali shook her head. "Only more mysteries to add to the mix. You ever heard of a Meta who doesn't have a digestive system?" She described the autopsy findings.
"No. Even those of us who have unusual food sources still have guts. This is something else." Violet paused, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if there's a cloning facility here. Someone making Human-like constructs for illegal brothels, or something. Except…I haven't heard anything like that. And why kill her and leave her somewhere that's so easy to find? Unless that's what they wanted…" Violet shook her head. "Still doesn't explain the fuzzy surveillance footage, though. It just doesn't make sense."
"I could ask my contacts in the sex industry," Minali began doubtfully. The prostitutes who'd testified against their employer in her last case might help her, especially if these clones were taking their jobs.
"Maybe as a last resort," Violet replied. "Better to talk to Allie first. Can you call her? I'm trying to narrow down a li
st of suspects from the people who were in the bar that night. Do you know how many doppelgangers Sven has in the Complex? It's like the recruiters headhunted men who looked like Nordic gods to tempt more women here."
Minali ended the call, and attempted to get in touch with Allie, but the guerrilla fighter turned plumber didn't answer her phone. Minali tried again several times over the afternoon and evening, with the same result. Before Minali went to bed, she considered calling again, but she shied away from the idea at the last minute. If Allie had been too busy dealing with a plumbing problem to answer the comm, she wouldn't appreciate an interruption now she was home with her family. Especially not from a stranger asking for a favour. It would take a much bigger box of chocolates than Minali could afford to smooth something like that over.
So Minali rolled into bed, resolving to try again in the morning. It might be her day off, but a detective never really stopped working, not as long as she had an unsolved case turning over in her mind.
Eighteen
Minali did her best to focus on the naked mermaid's face, and not the rest of her body. Was she supposed to ask for Allie or Halcyon? Violet had said the woman's history wasn't widely publicised but she'd also said that the Mer didn't keep secrets from each other. Plus, she was here on official business. It didn't seem right to call a woman she barely knew by her nickname. Not now Minali knew the cheerful plumber could kill her just as happily as she replaced a pipe. "I'm here to see whoever's in charge here," Minali said finally. That would do. "I called earlier and I'm expected." She'd been expected an hour ago, but the traffic jam caused by the zipper crash at peak hour in the morning just as everyone was trying to get to work had slowed her down more than she thought. She prayed Allie was still here, and that she wouldn't have to search the whole Complex for the woman.
The Mer woman pointed. "Up by the top pool."
Minali raised her eyes to the top of the housing complex, and caught a glimpse of light reflecting off something up there. It could be a pool she hadn't seen before, she reasoned. She sincerely hoped it wasn't full of cavorting naked people like the ones down here. Didn't these people work at all?
She trudged up the slope to what turned out to be a round, shallow pool with a waterfall at one end that cascaded down to the fish ponds below. This one appeared to be empty, though.
"Hello?" she called.
"Hello!"
The voice that responded was deep and syrupy, doing things to her insides no sound should be able to, as none other than Sven surfaced from the seemingly empty pool. He stepped out of the water, shaking droplets off what Minali could only call his naked glory. The man was sex on a stick. And now he was out of the water, she could see exactly what he hid under his tail, jutting from between his groin like…
"I was just thinking about you," Sven continued. "Wondering how your investigation is going. Whether you have caught the culprit yet."
Minali forced herself to meet the merman's eyes, hoping she wasn't blushing. "How did you do that?" she demanded. "Appear out of thin air like that."
"Ah, you mean you didn't see me in the pool? I wanted to be alone, but your company has changed my mind, so I show myself." Sven held up his hand, which faded from light brown to white, before taking on a greenish hue that matched the water behind him.
If Minali wasn't watching closely, she'd think his hand had disappeared altogether. As she watched, his hand returned to the same colour as the rest of him. "You're a chameleon," she breathed, naming an Earth lizard that she'd heard stories of but never seen, one which could change colour to mimic its surroundings.
"No, I'm a Mer man. A green one," he corrected. "A man who would very much like to share a pool with you."
His tone made swimming sound like the dirtiest thing imaginable. Minali's eyes darted downward in time to see him harden further, as if his innuendo was intentional. She shoved away the mental picture of what it might feel like to allow something that long and hard slide inside her.
"Where's Allie?" she said finally, when she could tear her eyes away. "One of the mermaids told me she was up here."
Sven shrugged. "At work, fixing pipes and singing, I imagine. She never comes up here. This is my place."
"You're the leader of this hippy nudist colony?" Minali asked in disbelief. It wasn't so hard to believe, once she thought about it. This exhibitionist fit right in with the rest of them. He probably led the orgies.
"I am." A slow smile lit Sven's face. "Which earns me this private pool higher than the others, which I will probably lose to someone else once you arrest me for the murder in my shop."
Murder. Right. That's what she was here for. Minali pulled her tablet from her pocket and flicked her fingers across the screen until the first photo appeared. "Well, maybe you can answer a question for me. Do you know what this is?" She thrust the tablet at him, desperately trying not to think of other kinds of thrusting.
His hand closed around hers, surprisingly cool. "That's a naiad. How did you take this picture? Naiads don't often show themselves."
"A what?"
"A naiad, a water spirit who purifies lakes, streams and other water bodies. She gets her energy from the flow of clean water. It's a lonely life, though." Sven sighed.
"Especially if she's dead," Minali blurted out.
Sven snorted. "Naiads can't die. They're spirits. Immortal spirits made of energy."
Energy that could interfere with the surveillance cameras, perhaps. But… "This girl was flesh and blood, the same as you and me." Minali remembered the girl's unusual biology. "Well, mostly like you and me. She drowned in your fish tank."
Sven's eyes widened. "This is the murdered body you found in my shop? Oh, no. That's not possible. A naiad hasn't taken corporeal form for centuries. And the amount of power it takes to do that? Bolina wasn't anywhere near powerful enough to make a body for herself."
Just when she'd thought he might not have anything to do with the murder, Sven went and incriminated himself all over again. Minali pounced. "You know her?"
Sven's brow creased. "Her name was Bolina and she liked to spend time here. She liked the easy flow here, she said. She envied us, I think. In her spirit form, she can't touch anyone, even her own kind. Sometimes she liked to watch my people at play, but other times it made her too sad." Sven managed a smile. "I know how she felt."
Minali could almost feel the sadness flowing from him. Like he hadn't known she was dead. Like he hadn't been her killer.
"Then why did you kill her?" Minali asked, the words feeling wrong even as they left her lips.
"I didn't."
Minali gazed into his eyes, looking for a lie she knew she wouldn't find. She believed him.
"Do you know who did?" she asked.
Sven shook his head. "But I would do everything in my power to find out, and I will offer you everything you want if you will help me."
"Everything I want? How can you even begin to imagine you know what I want?" Minali snapped.
Sven smiled that slow, lazy smile as he spread his arms wide. "I can offer you undreamed-of pleasures that will make you scorn our orgies instead of staring avidly at them. Mer are the best lovers the universe will ever know. Let me show you, Detective. A taste of what I can offer you in thanks for your help."
Minali looked him up and down. Stars help her, but she wanted him. How long had it been since she'd had passable sex, let alone something good? Screw that he was a murder suspect. He hadn't done the deed. And he wanted to do a very different deed with her…
"What if I discover you're the culprit?" she asked him.
"Then you will arrest me, and send me offworld, and I will lose everything I have worked so hard for," Sven said softly. "But you will still have the pleasure I give you, and I will have the memory of how beautiful you look at the pinnacle of joy."
Minali's breath caught in her throat. Who talked like that? If he was half as good in bed as he was with his tongue, she'd be crazy to turn him down. And it wasn't like she was l
etting him drag her into some dark dungeon where no one could find her. Violet and Allie knew she'd be here. But she had the whole day ahead of her, with nothing to do...
"I'm not joining in one of your orgies," she said firmly, allowing herself to stare at his body fully for the first time. A perfect specimen of a man. Better than anyone she'd ever touched before, let alone slept with.
Sven chuckled, a delicious sound. "No, I wouldn't share you with the others. We'll have the privacy of my pool for as long as you like me."
Minali was lost. She'd never done something like this sober before, with her judgement unclouded by alcohol or some emotion she imagined was love. "How do you want to do this?"
He stepped forward, so close she could feel the heat of him through her clothes, before he kissed her neck. "I would like to discover how I can give you the greatest pleasure, Detective," he breathed against her throat as his hands touched her bare skin beneath her shirt.
Nineteen
Minali wasn't sure what happened to her clothes, because Sven's deft hands were everywhere and the fabric was gone. Then he slid two questing fingers between her thighs and she could think of nothing else. Stars, but the man was good. He kissed her breasts as he carried her to the pool, and his fingers never stopped moving. Inside her, pressing at each sensitive spot until she thought she'd explode, before expertly moving away to find another to tease her with. Soon, she heard her own voice breathlessly begging for release with a desperation she could scarcely believe came from her.
Sven hesitated for barely a moment before granting her wish with a few more deft strokes of his fingers. She cried out, truly seeing stars for a few moments before she managed to blink away her blindness.
"More?" Sven asked blithely as he set her down in the pool. The water reached her breasts, buoying them up and making them look bigger than they really were, or at least she thought so.
More than the best orgasm she could remember having in her entire life? Minali struggled with the idea as she fought to catch her breath. Her throat hurt as if she'd screamed.
Fishtail (The Complex Book 0) Page 5