Staying on Top

by Elizabeth Corrigan

  Jace and Joelle perched themselves on the stools opposite the round bench of the table.

  “Fancy meeting you here!” Olivan was at least half in love with Vinnie, by all indications that Kadin could muster, but even love couldn’t kill Olivan’s crush on Jace. She had to wonder if Olivan had somehow orchestrated this group of people.

  That’s ridiculous. Trinithy invited herself on my date, and there’s no way even Ollie could have foreseen that. Probably.

  “Dear, who are these lovely people?” Joelle’s tone was sweet, but something poisonous lay beneath the innocent words.

  “Oh, these are my coworkers.” Jace gestured to them each in turn. “Olivan King. Kadin Stone. Dahran White, and Trinithy Gold.”

  He knows my name! Trinithy mouthed to Kadin.

  Jace had the dignity to ignore Trinithy’s less-than-subtle excitement. “I’m afraid I don’t know you,” he said to Ralvin.

  “Vinnie Royal.” Ralvin held out a hand, which Jace shook. “I’m with Ollie.”

  “Jace Combs, and this is my wife, Joelle.”

  Joelle hadn’t taken her gaze off Kadin since Jace had said her name. “So you’re Kadin Stone,” said Joelle, now that there was a break in the conversation. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

  Heat rose to Kadin’s cheeks as everyone turned to look at her. Since Joelle had just met everyone at the table—and Kadin thought it unlikely that Joelle was secretly best friends with Octavira—no one could doubt the source of the information.

  Jace, for his part, had the decency to look embarrassed. “I haven’t said that much about her.”

  “Oh, please.” Joelle picked at something imaginary on her top, drawing everyone’s attention to her breasts—well, Dahran’s attention, at least. Jace seemed inured to his wife’s charms. “Not a day goes by that I don’t hear about how grateful you are that Kadin Stone has joined the homicide team. ‘Finally there’s someone competent I can talk to,’ you say.”

  Kadin froze, the sudden drop in her temperature a stark contrast to the heat she could all but feel rising off of Dahran as his temper rose. Joelle’s less-than-off-the-cuff statement wasn’t Kadin’s fault, but she doubted Dahran would see it that way.

  Joelle continued as if oblivious to the emotions flickering across the table. “At first when he started up about it, I assumed you had to be a man. Isn’t Kadin a boy’s name? But then I caught onto the female pronouns.”

  Lie, thought Kadin. She didn’t know why Joelle would lie about something like that, except that Joelle’s priority for the evening had become humiliating Kadin.

  Before Kadin could say anything to attempt to salvage the situation, the first few chords of a Dawban Steel song belted out from the speakers. Kadin tried not to cringe. She had a strong distaste for Steel’s music after an unfortunate run-in with him at one of Olivan’s parties.

  “I love this song!” Trinithy grabbed Dahran’s arm. “And since I don’t have a date, you have to dance with me!”

  Under ordinary circumstances, Dahran would have made a token effort to dance with his girlfriend instead, but she suspected he was still smarting from Joelle’s comments on his detective skills. Thus, Kadin was not surprised when Dahran accepted Trinithy’s demand and headed off to the dance floor with her. What did take Kadin aback was the spiteful, amused glance he tossed back at her before he disappeared into the crowd.

  Joelle pouted in her husband’s direction. “I want to dance too.”

  “Have fun,” said Jace. “You know I don’t dance.”

  “Fine.” Joelle stood up. “I’m sure plenty of people will be happy to dance with me.”

  Judging by the look on Jace’s face, Kadin thought Joelle’s attempt to make him jealous didn’t have the desired effect. She spun on her spiked heel and trounced toward a group of men on the other side of the room.

  “Shall we?” Olivan held out his hand to Ralvin, who took it, leaving Kadin alone at the table with Jace.

  Kadin’s mouth went dry as she tried to think of something to say. Inviting him to dance seemed like a poor idea, given that he’d said he didn’t dance. “So your wife’s a total sub-D,” also seemed like a poor conversation starter. She almost resorted to talking about the weather when Jace said, “Mind if we talk a little shop?”

  “Not at all.” Kadin heard the relief in her own voice. She wondered if it was wrong that homicide was the topic she found easiest to talk about these days. “Though I warn you, if this is about the Coelis Crest case, Fellows has told me in no uncertain terms to stay out of it.”

  Jace’s fingers made little circles on the table between them. “Really? That’s odd. Does he usually tell you to stay out of cases?”

  Kadin raised a shoulder then let it drop. “Not usually. Occasionally. I think, this time, it’s because Dahran and I bungled the initial interviews so badly.”

  The corners of Jace’s mouth turned upward. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Oh, believe it. I haven’t alienated that many witnesses in all the time I’ve been a detective’s aide, which, admittedly, has not been that long.”

  Jace’s smile widened. “This is about the Crest case, but don’t worry. I won’t tell Fellows I consulted with you.”

  Kadin offered her own smile. “I won’t tell, either.”

  “So as expected, the body got transferred to the CrimeSolve lab, but I was able to get enough samples to do a preliminary tox screen.”

  “And?”

  “Nothing.” Jace sat back in his chair and let out his breath in a whoosh. “I can’t find a single thing that indicates foul play. There are no marks on the body and none of the obvious drugs in her system, not even alcohol. It’s as though her heart just stopped.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. She’s younger than me.” Was younger than me. Always will be younger than me, I guess.

  “Oh, believe me, I know. I’d like to get to the body and do a full autopsy, but that’s not going to happen. I’ll talk to Fellows about at least getting the autopsy report from CrimeSolve, but I don’t hold out a lot of hope there.”

  “So maybe it wasn’t murder,” said Kadin. “But if not, why hide the body? I suppose she could have died, and her friends could have gotten scared that they would get in trouble, but they really seemed—”

  Kadin broke off when she saw the knowing look Jace gave her.

  “No.” She shook her head, slowly at first then more aggressively. “You do not think it was magic.”

  “I most assuredly do not think it was magic,” said Jace. “That way lies madness and misery. Except…”

  “Except the last time the Society of Mages came to Valeriel, there was a string of unexplained murders. And we know they’re back. You think it was Herrick Strand.” Please, Deity, don’t let Strand be back. I don’t know how to stop him.

  Jace shook his head. “Herrick Strand burned a hole in Queen Callista’s windpipe, and she suffocated. Coelis Crest didn’t suffocate. Her heart stopped.”

  Kadin didn’t know which was worse, the idea that Herrick Strand was back or the idea that there were two murderer mages at large in Valeriel. “There are still lots of possibilities other than magic. You said yourself you could only do a preliminary tox screen.”

  Jace slumped back in his chair. “You may be right. Get Fellows to get me the autopsy report from CrimeSolve. Then we’ll see.”

  Chapter 7

  “Valeriel Investigations. Detective Fellows’s office. Kadin Stone speaking. How may I help you?”

  After what Kadin considered her second debacle-filled evening of the week, she was grateful to be back in the office. Work, she understood. Navigating the complex relationships of a variety of different friend groups all mashed into one place was a different problem altogether. The highlight of her evening had been that Dahran was still so annoyed about Joelle’s comments that he didn’
t try to dance with her or kiss her good night. She supposed she should be concerned for the future of the relationship, but Dahran had gotten in moods like this before, and they hadn’t had any lasting effect.

  The worst part of the evening was when the dancing couples returned to the table having had so much fun with each other, they decided they wanted to repeat the experience on Wednesday. Kadin was surprised when Jace agreed, but she got the impression he gave Joelle whatever she wanted, at least so long as he didn’t have to dance.

  “Kadin!” She would have recognized the voice on the other end of the telephone anywhere, though she found herself a little surprised at how deeply it had ingrained itself in her psyche. “It’s Baurus.”

  Kadin felt her heartbeat pick up a little. She wasn’t sure if she was more terrified that the Duke of Valeriel City was calling her or excited that Baurus was. “What’s up?”

  “Just calling to check in on the case.”

  “Right. The case.” Of course, this wasn’t a personal call. He’d called her office number. Besides, he’d had six months to make a personal call and hadn’t bothered, yet the minute his sister found a dead body, he was in her living room. She was a detective to him, nothing more, which should have pleased her because she was just an aide to everyone else. “The thing about the case is—”

  “Don’t tell me you don’t have any leads.” Baurus’s deep voice took on a wheedling tone. “I know you can find anything you put your mind to.”

  “It’s not that.” Kadin moved her hand up to run her fingers through her hair then stopped herself when she realized the gesture would ruin her do. “Fellows has decided that he would be a better fit for the case. He’s got me working on other investigations.” There. That was diplomatic.

  “Kay, I hired you.” Baurus now sounded frustrated. “I need you to solve the case. As far as I can tell, Fellows is incompetent.”

  “Fellows is a brilliant detective!” The words came out automatically. If she were being honest, she thought Fellows’s reputation as the best detective Valeriel Investigations had to offer spoke more to the incompetence of his colleagues than his talents.

  Baurus snorted. “I’ve seen no evidence of that. I need you on this case. I can call Fellows. Or his boss. What’s his boss’s name again?”

  “No, no, that’s fine.” She could not imagine how Fellows would react if the duke called Inspector Blaik Warring and told him that Fellows’s aide had to be the lead investigator on a high-profile murder investigation. “I’ll work on the case.”

  “That’s my girl.” Baurus’s words held a beaming smile. “Let me know when you’ve got something.” Kadin heard a click on the other end of the line.

  Kadin buried her head in her hands. She couldn’t believe she had told Baurus she would work on the case against Fellows’s explicit orders. If she didn’t work on the case, she would have lied to Baurus, and she hated lying. On the other hand, Fellows was a good boss, and she hated to go against his wishes.

  But Fellows is only keeping me off the case because he doesn’t want me to botch it any further. If I prove to him I can solve it, he’ll have to admit he was wrong. Keep telling yourself that, Kay. When has Fellows ever admitted to being wrong? The truth is, you want to be on this case. It’s a real mystery, and it’ll impress Baurus.

  She picked up the phone and dialed the personnel office. “Ollie? Are you busy? I need your help.”

  An hour later, Olivan and Kadin were in Olivan’s green sedan, headed out to the suburbs.

  “Explain to me again why you needed me to track down Coelis Crest’s parents for you.” Olivan turned on his blinker and switched lanes. “Aren’t you, like, detective’s aide extraordinaire? Can’t you find anyone and anything?”

  “Well, you know...” Kadin almost cringed at the singsongy quality in her own voice. She was such a terrible liar. “Your records of famous people are so much better than mine. I thought you could find them more easily than I could. Part of being a good detective’s aide is having good sources.”

  “Mm-hm.” Olivan navigated around a curve. “And I’m going with you instead of Fellows or White because…”

  This time Kadin did cringe. “All right, all right. Dahran and I messed up the original interviews pretty badly, so Fellows doesn’t want me anywhere near the case.”

  Olivan took his eyes off the road long enough to beam at Kadin. “I can’t believe you, of all people, are going against your boss’s orders. I’m so proud of you.”

  Kadin rubbed her forehead. She was not proud of herself. “Well, the thing is, Baurus really wants me on this case. And it’s a lot easier to gainsay Fellows than Baurus.”

  Olivan let out a squeal. “I still cannot believe you’re on a first-name basis with the duke of the city. It’s like my greatest dream ever.”

  Well, you’re on a first-pseudonym basis with the king, but I can hardly tell you that.” “Anyway, I couldn’t do any research in the office without Fellows finding out, so I outsourced it to you. He might still think I’m doing interviews for another case.”

  “Kadin Stone. Did you lie to your boss about your whereabouts?”

  “No!” The denial was out of Kadin’s mouth before she could consider that she might also be lying to Olivan. “I may have used some creative language to hide my true intentions, however.”

  Olivan shook his head. “We’ll make a rebel out of you yet.” He glanced to his right and took the exit ramp out into the town of Clover.

  As soon as they got off the highway, they were surrounded on both sides by rows of near-identical houses, differing only in the color of their siding and shutters. Each one was surrounded by a white picket fence. Some had autocars parked in the driveway, and one had two children playing in the yard with a barking dog.

  This is it, thought Kadin. This is the life I’m supposed to want—that I do want. She tried to imagine living in this ordinary-ideal neighborhood with her own washer-dryer and dishwasher, and the dream felt somehow empty.

  That’s because you’ve gotten used to the excitement of homicide investigations. Life out in the suburbs would be much better—and much safer. She’d been lying so much lately, to Fellows, to Olivan, to herself, that she wasn’t even sure what the truth was anymore.

  Olivan pulled up to one of the houses, a white one with pretty blue shutters and a matching roof and door.

  “You called them to say we were coming, right?” asked Kadin.

  “Yes, though I’ll never understand why I’m doing your job for you.” Olivan turned off the car and opened the door to get out.

  “Because you’re a good friend.” Kadin opened her own door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. “A good friend who is dying of curiosity about this case.”

  Olivan flashed Kadin a grin. “You are so right about that.”

  They walked up to the blue door and knocked. A middle-aged woman with graying blond hair and red-rimmed blue eyes answered the door. Based on the family resemblance, Kadin assumed this had to be Coelis Crest’s mother.

  “You must be the detectives,” Mrs. Crest said. “Do come in.”

  She led them through a foyer, where pictures of Coelis at all ages adorned the wall. The pictures from the past few years, though, seemed to be movie posters and newspaper clippings, rather than family portraits or candid photos.

  At the end of the hallway lay a spacious living room with plastic-covered floral furniture. A man with dark-brown hair and a mustache sat in one of the armchairs. His skin was distinctly tanner than either Coelis’s or his wife’s, and Kadin didn’t see the family resemblance between him and the film star at all.

  “I don’t see why we need to talk to them.” Mr. Crest glowered at Olivan and Kadin. “We already answered all that other detective’s questions.”

  “Now, dear, don’t be off-putting.” Mrs. Crest kissed her husband’s cheek and sat in the other armchair,
leaving Kadin and Olivan to sit on the sofa. “They’re trying to find out what happened to poor Coelis.” Mrs. Crest’s words were light, but the way she tripped over them at the end let Kadin know that the mother was trying not to cry. “Can I get you detectives something to drink? Some java?”

  Olivan brightened. “That would be—” He caught the glare Kadin gave him. “Terrible. I mean, unnecessary. Definitely don’t want any java.”

  “I’m sorry to bother you again, Mrs. Crest,” said Kadin. “You must have had many detectives contact you already.”

  “Oh, no, just the one,” said Mrs. Crest. “Detective Clout, I believe he called himself. And it’s Mrs. Dove.”

  “Oh, I apologize.” Kadin mentally cursed Olivan for not giving her this information he must have had. “I assumed… Was Coelis Crest a professional name, then?”

  “Not at all. I used to be Mrs. Crest,” said Mrs. Dove. “Coelils’s father died when she was just a little thing, Deity rest his soul. I married Robbin here a few years after that. I felt like Coelis needed a father figure in her life.”

  “Ah, of course.” Kadin couldn’t blame Coelis’s mother for finding another husband. The laws that prevented women with children from working also provided a stipend for raising the child, but a working husband brought in much more income. “You’re sure Detective Clout is the only investigator you’ve heard from? You haven’t received a call from Detective Fellows?”

  “Are you calling my wife a liar?” Robbin Dove stood up and took a threatening step toward Kadin. “I don’t need some chit of a girl coming into my house and playing at being a detective while we are grieving.”

  Kadin swallowed. He’s angry from grief. That makes sense. She tried to tell herself not to let this big man scare her. She’d faced any number of belligerent witnesses. Trouble was, usually when she did, she had Fellows backing her up.

  Olivan shot to his feet. “My name is Detective Olivan King, and I don’t appreciate you talking to my aide that way. I am letting her take the lead on some of the interviews in this case because I felt like it would be a good experience for her. I trust you will treat her with the same respect you would me.”