by Helen Harper
‘Is it a good idea,’ I asked carefully, ‘to be using such magic all the time?’ After all, it was magic usage that got Manchester into this mess in the first place. I’d been under the impression that I had to curb my own spells to avoid any further city-wide turbulence. Timmons himself had told me months ago that I couldn’t make Manchester any worse more than it already was but I was still nervous about it. Who wouldn’t be?
Despite my palpable concern, Timmons scoffed. ‘What I do here is a drop in the proverbial ocean. It won’t do any harm. Only a large group of magic wielders constantly making use of their skills will cause issues.’ He gave me a clever look, obviously understanding where my concern was coming from. ‘You don’t have to worry, Charley. Things are settled here now. I might have been concerned in the initial aftermath but now I seriously doubt you could use enough magic to create problems.’
All the same, I wasn’t sure it was wise to use magic unless the situation genuinely called for it. A magical alarm that was set off when someone spread some jam on a slice of bread struck me as a step too far.
From beyond the stairwell, a wide-eyed face appeared. ‘Is it safe?’
‘Yes, yes.’ Timmons smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Jacob. It’s all fine.’
A woman appeared behind the nervy Jacob. ‘This isn’t good enough! It’s the middle of the night! That damned alarm goes off far too often.’
I sensed Timmons holding back. ‘You asked for the alarm. You agreed to it.’
‘I didn’t know it would keep screaming at me all the time, did I? It’s your magic. You have to sort it out.’
‘I’m doing my best—’
‘Do better!’ she snapped.
I watched her. I wasn’t the only person in Manchester who was being put under pressure to make sure everything worked and everyone was safe. Timmons appeared less aggrieved than I was but there was a tightening in my stomach at the woman’s tirade, which was all too familiar to my ears these days.
Timmons inhaled deeply and offered a benign smile. ‘I’m working on it.’
I cleared my throat. ‘It was my fault,’ I said. ‘I didn’t realise the alarm was in place.’
The woman scowled at me. I might never have met her before but I’d encountered that same facial expression many times in recent weeks.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘It won’t happen…’ There was a thunderous clatter of footsteps from the stairwell.
‘Help! Someone help!’
My blood froze. Whoever was yelling, there was no mistaking the note of pure fear in their voice. Timmons heard it too. He pushed past the couple and glanced upwards.
‘Mr Timmons! You have to help! Valerie has been murdered! She’s … she’s … dead!’
And right then and there I knew that my short-lived-but-very-welcome holiday was well and truly over.
Chapter Six
It didn’t help that I knew Valerie, and not just from the apocalyptic madness. Our paths had crossed many times on the poker circuit. We never got on that well but I’d like to think there was a sort of mutual respect. Occasionally. The old adage that you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead rang true for me more than it probably should have done.
Until I entered her room, following on Timmons’ heels, I’d kept my fingers crossed that she’d passed away from natural causes. In these turbulent times it would be easy to jump to conclusions. Valerie wasn’t exactly decrepit but she was old and she hadn’t lived a particularly healthy lifestyle. I could well imagine that she’d had a heart attack or a stroke. Maybe such a swift death would be a blessing, given our lack of trained doctors and working hospitals. All these thoughts were running through my head right up to the point where I saw her body. In that moment everything changed.
‘Shit.’
She lay on her bed, one arm draped over the side and dangling lifelessly while her fingers trailed on the floor. Her fingernails, which were always immaculately manicured, were cracked and broken. Her hair looked matted and in knots, like someone had deliberately scrunched it up. If I were honest, I’d have struggled to recognise her as Valerie but little details referenced her, from the delicate filigree bracelet on her wrist to the beauty spot on her cheek. As a whole, however, the sunken look to her skin and her skull-like appearance made it difficult to equate her corpse with the living being who had once occupied it.
‘How long…’ My voice cracked. I swallowed and tried again. ‘When was the last time anyone saw her?’
‘I can ask around,’ Timmons said. He looked as pale as Valerie did. ‘I saw her at breakfast yesterday.’
I am no forensic scientist or mortician but even I knew that a body couldn’t shrivel like this in less than twenty-four hours. She was practically a husk. I dredged up the word for myself. Exsanguination: that was it. Valerie’s entire body had been drained of all its blood. I shuddered.
Steeling myself, I edged over to get a closer look. There was only the faintest odour of death emanating from her; most of what I smelled was talcum powder. I stared into her glazed eyes, willing her to blink and giggle and tell us all this was nothing more than a tasteless joke. That wasn’t going to happen. We all knew it.
Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her neck was arched. Something caught my eye and, holding my breath, I leaned down for a closer look. When I saw what it was, I stiffened and pulled back.
‘What?’ Timmons asked. ‘What do you see?’
I gave him a grim look. ‘Puncture wounds,’ I said. ‘Right by her jugular.’
We gazed at each other for a moment – let’s face it, it was better than looking at Valerie’s corpse. The identical thought was mirrored in our expressions. The shit was well and truly about to hit the fan.
I couldn’t tell you for sure how many vampires were now living in Manchester. Great numbers had flocked here in the immediate aftermath of the apocalypse, drawn by the magic that strengthened their powers and by the idea that, finally, they could be free to live their lives without worrying about secrecy. For a long time their numbers had been depleted, hunted down by a small cabal of hunters who knew of their existence. As vampires are born and not made, their population had dwindled to near extinction.
Despite their woes, they had few fans. Julie, a vampire herself, had come close to triggering the end of the world rather than simply the end of Manchester. To make matters worse, as they enjoyed the magic atmosphere of this newly-born city the vampires grew more arrogant and predatorial. Still, as far as I was aware, none of them had actually killed anyone.
‘I knew we should have worked harder on that census,’ I muttered to myself as much as to Timmons while we waited for Anna to arrive. ‘At least then we’d have a proper pool of suspects.’
He offered me a helpless shrug. ‘How on earth would you have enforced it? Anyway, from what I’ve heard you’ve been more than busy with other matters.’
He was right but it didn’t stop me thinking yet again that I should have done more. I should have been better. For the briefest moment the face of my long-since-dead little brother flashed into my mind. I should have done more to save him back then; I should be doing more to save my city now. Then maybe whichever vampire had drained Valerie of all her blood would have thought twice about it.
I curled my fingers into tight fists. Whatever I’d thought of the woman, I wouldn’t let Valerie’s killer get away. I didn’t care who had ended her life; no one was allowed to act like that. Not in my city. Not under my watch.
It seemed to take an age but it was probably little more than an hour before Anna strode through the door, kitted out in her full police regalia. Lizzy, Julie, Cath and the runner who Timmons had sent to fetch them all trailed behind her; they’d now been seconded to the cause.
In our southern side of Manchester, Anna had taken it upon herself to become the police commissioner, dealing with everything from stolen goods to the odd neighbourly fist-fight. She investigated the problems and left it to me to mete out justice. I crossed my fingers and hop
ed she was ready to deal with murder as well as petty crime. After seeing Valerie’s body, I was ready to mete out an entirely different kind of justice.
Fortunately, Anna didn’t waste any time. ‘Right,’ she said briskly. ‘I take it all the hotel residents are still here?’
Timmons nodded. ‘Some wanted to leave but we’ve told them to stay in their rooms.’
‘Good. We need statements from each of them. What they saw or heard during the night, what they knew of the victim and her plans for yesterday, and when the last time was that they saw her.’ Her expression was stony but there was a professional air about her that was immediately reassuring. ‘In over eighty-five percent of murders, the victim already knows their killer. Everyone here is a suspect.’
Timmons fidgeted. ‘Uh, the manner of her death…’
Anna swung her eyes onto him and I could swear he cowered. ‘Yes?’
He cleared his throat. ‘It looks like it was a…’ He shuffled and dropped his gaze.
‘A vampire,’ I finished for him. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted Julie stiffening. Good. Her reaction suggested that she was shocked by the information; that meant it was unlikely that she’d had anything to do with it. The last thing I needed was for her to be on anyone’s hit list.
‘I was not informed of that,’ Anna frowned. ‘But it doesn’t change anything. Our initial investigations will remain the same.’
Timmons coughed.
‘What?’ Anna snapped.
‘Well,’ he started, shuffling slightly. I grimaced. I knew exactly what he was going to say. The witch hunt was about to begin and it would apparently start with him. Bugger. ‘The thing is, if all my residents are considered suspects then shouldn’t all vampires be too? They’re the ones who should be held to account.’ He didn’t look at Julie. ‘She should immediately be placed under…’
I interrupted him before he could complete the sentence. ‘I think it would be extraordinarily helpful if Julie could examine the body first, before we start with the interrogations.’
Anna flicked me a look. ‘I’d prefer to call them interviews,’ she said. ‘Before we get to the thumbscrews and water-boarding, that is.’
‘Interviews, yes,’ I agreed hastily. ‘Anyway, as a vampire, Julie might have some insights into Valerie’s … death.’ I nudged Timmons. ‘That’s what you were about to suggest, right?’
It wasn’t. He knew and I knew it but he wasn’t prepared to argue about it, not with Julie standing in front of him with her arms folded and her fangs a mere foot away. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Yes. That’s what I was going to say.’
Julie looked unimpressed.
‘I’ll lead the way,’ I said, before she could be the one to start the trouble. I grabbed her elbow and steered her towards the stairs. ‘This way!’
As soon as the stairwell door clanged shut behind us, Julie wrested her arm away from me. ‘He was about to say that I had to get out of his hotel. He was about to say that, because I’m a vampire, I’m a suspect too and I should be under lock and key.’
‘I don’t think he was planning to say that at all,’ I demurred, lying through my teeth.
‘Don’t bluff me, darling. I’m not stupid.’
I sighed. ‘Okay. Yes, he probably was about to say all that, but once we start down that road chaos will ensue. The last thing any of us need is for every vampire in the city to be placed under suspicion. We need to work on a presumption of innocence, not guilt, otherwise I can imagine what the other vampires will do when they’re accused by anyone who passes them by. We don’t need that kind of hassle. Relations across species are fragile enough without entire ethnic populations being accused of murder.’
Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t argue. I breathed out.
‘Anyway,’ I said, moving the subject to slightly safer ground, ‘I have a bone to pick with you in private. What the hell did you think you were doing going to Monroe and telling him I needed his help?’
‘You did need his help, darling.’ She glanced at me critically. ‘You still do. In fact, he should be here now. This affects him as well as us. All those vampires you’re so keen to protect live in his part of the city, not ours.’
I opened my mouth to tell her that I’d go in search of Monroe as soon as things were wrapped up here but, before I could, the door behind us opened again and a voice called out. ‘Wait up!’ Cath bounded up the stairs towards us. ‘I’m coming too!’
I was well aware of the teenager’s bloodthirsty nature. ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea,’ I said.
‘I’m the only one here who knows anything about medicine.’
‘Darling,’ Julie drawled, ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to bring a corpse back to life, no matter how well trained you may be in first aid.’ In the absence of any qualified doctors or nurses, Cath was our best option at stitching up wounds and doling out medication. She didn’t have a lot of experience but she had more than the rest of us. Unfortunately that wasn’t saying much.
Cath paused to give Julie a glare. ‘Unless you can find us an expert in post-mortems, I’m the best person you have to help you investigate.’ She turned to me. ‘Tell her, Charley.’
I raised my eyes heavenward. Just think, a few hours ago I was sleeping blissfully without a care in the world. ‘We’re all here now,’ I said. ‘Let’s see what our combined brains can work out from Valerie’s body and the crime scene.’ Of course, the odds were that we’d discover absolutely nothing but we had to try.
We emerged at the third floor where Valerie’s room was located. At least the proximity to the place of her death meant that Cath and Julie lapsed into a respectful silence. I led the way to the room, although I was fairly certain that the scent of death was already in Julie’s nostrils and she knew exactly where we were going.
‘The fire door,’ Julie said. ‘Has it been open all this time?’
I glanced round and realised she was right. At the end of the hallway, close to the other staircase at the opposite end of the hotel, the fire exit leading to the outside world was ajar. I thought about it. ‘Yes,’ I said finally. ‘It was open when I came up here the first time.’ It was the perfect escape route for any intruder – vampire or otherwise.
‘Mmm,’ Julie murmured. ‘You can’t open those doors from the other side.’ She looked at me meaningfully. ‘If the murderer isn’t from inside the hotel, your corpse must have invited her killer in.’
I sighed. It did make sense, otherwise Timmons’ magic alarm would have gone off earlier. Unfortunately all that information did was widen our pool of suspects from several dozen to several thousand.
I steeled myself and walked into Valerie’s room, while Julie and Cath hesitated at the door. Cath let out a gasp. Julie remained more stoical but even her skin looked paler than normal.
We wouldn’t do Valerie any good by wringing our hands and retching. I swallowed and strode over to her body. ‘Don’t touch anything until Anna gives us the say so.’
‘Sure,’ Cath murmured. ‘We wouldn’t want to disturb the scene before the fingerprint technicians get here.’
I tutted at her. ‘We might not have the resources but that doesn’t mean we need to be stupid.’ I pointed at Valerie. ‘There are the puncture wounds. Julie, come here and tell me what you think.’
The vampire actress edged in with considerable reluctance. She moved round to my right side and peered at Valerie’s body. Cath came over and did the same.
‘Maybe,’ the teen said, sounding nervous for the first time, ‘I should check to make sure she’s really dead.’
‘She’s really dead,’ Julie snapped. ‘How many alive people do you know who look like that?’
I placed a warning hand on her shoulder. Cath was only trying to be useful in the face of a terrifying sight.
Julie shrugged me off but she did at least subside. ‘Yeah,’ she said finally. ‘Those puncture marks look vampire-like to me.’
‘You told me once,’ I said, ‘that you could
never drink all the blood in a human’s body in one go. That there’s just too much. Was that the truth?’
‘Yes,’ she answered. ‘It’s a lot of liquid to chug down.’
I winced slightly at her choice of words but I didn’t interrupt.
‘Whoever did this,’ Julie continued, ‘must have spent quite some time with her.’ She shuffled round the other side of the bed and squatted down beside Valerie’s trailing hand. ‘You see the way her fingernails are cracked? She put up a fight. Our perpetrator is probably covered in scratches.’
‘How quickly do vampires heal?’ I asked.
Julie’s mouth flattened into a thin line. ‘These days? With all the magic floating in the air? Hours, at best. If you’re using attack wounds to find her killer, you’ll have to move quickly. Unless your Valerie here managed to score a life-threatening hit, whoever did this will have healed their scratches and cuts by noon.’ She paused. ‘And it’s light outside. Most vampires will be sleeping away the day by now.’
I absorbed this information with a sinking sensation. This was not going to be easy. ‘Do you know how many vampires there are in Manchester, Julie?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’ She looked away from me and towards Cath. ‘What are you staring at?’
Cath didn’t appear in the slightest bit intimidated. ‘I was checking you over,’ she said. ‘For scratches.’
Julie bared her teeth at the teen but without any real malice. She grabbed her blouse and started to unbutton it. ‘Would you like to check all over?’ she enquired. ‘I didn’t do this,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t do this. Frankly I don’t know of any vampire who could.’ She glanced at me. ‘If there were more puncture wounds, I’d have said there must have been more than one attacker.’
‘Unless,’ Cath said thoughtfully, ‘they were really hungry.’