“Help?” Leslina spat the word. “You think I need your help? I need neither that nor your pity, Kadin Stone.”
She’s speaking from a place of anger and hurt. She doesn’t mean it. But then Leslina always spoke from a place of anger and hurt, and she always meant it.
“I guess I just mean that I know you’re hurting right now. And you don’t have a ton of friends”—Smooth, Stone—“so if you needed someone to talk to—”
“I’m fine, thanks.” Leslina did not sound very thankful. “In fact, the best thing about getting fired is that I finally have you out of my life.”
Kadin felt something inside her snap. “You know what, Leslina? I don’t get you. You call me stupid all the time, but then you go and get caught using birth control pills. You knew the rules. You knew what would happen if you got caught, and you knew a new job would come with a mandatory test, so you would get caught. Yet you did it anyway. So tell me, really, which one of us is the stupid one?”
Leslina’s face turned red. “You are. It’ll always be you because I’m at least smart enough to realize that this world isn’t fair. And I try to change it. I try to fight it instead of being the good little girl everyone expects me to be.”
“But you’ve lost everything!”
“Have I? Maybe. We’ll see about that.” Leslina hefted her box off the desk. “At least I won’t spend the rest of my life chained to the likes of Dahran White. Have a nice life, Kadin Stone. I hope you get exactly what you’ve always wanted.”
Kadin watched Leslina march out of the room and resisted the urge to run after her and apologize. Kadin knew better than to kick a woman while she was down, even if that woman deserved it, and suspected an “I’m sorry” would lead to another argument. With a heavy heart, she headed back to her office.
“Dahran?” Kadin knocked on the doorframe of her boyfriend’s office. She hadn’t talked to him since Monday, and the two-day reprieve felt like more of a relief than she wanted to admit.
“Kadin!” Dahran seemed happy to see her, which meant he had either decided Joelle’s comments on Monday weren’t her fault or decided to forgive her. Either way, she was grateful to see pleasant Dahran back.
Not that Dahran’s ever particularly pleasant.
“Hey,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know that I have to run out and conduct some interviews this afternoon, so I’ll meet you at the club.”
Please don’t argue. Please don’t argue. Please don’t argue.
Dahran narrowed his eyes. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be roaming around the Nighttime district on your own.”
Kadin tried to laugh off his concern. “I’ll be fine. I used to do it all the time before we got together.” Besides, I have a gun now.
“Yes, well, it’s all well and good to do that kind of thing when you’re single, but you’re mine now.”
Kadin shuddered internally at his use of the word “mine.” He didn’t own her and should know better than to think he did.
“I don’t like the idea of all those guys out there looking at you, thinking you’re fair game.”
Of course. He doesn’t care about my safety, just making sure no one lays a hand on his property. Kadin almost kicked herself for the uncharitable thought. Of course, Dahran would be upset if something happened to her. Because he cares about you or because he would see it as a personal insult?
“Don’t worry. I checked the autobus, and it stops right outside Divinity. I won’t have any time for guys to bother me, and if they do, you’ll be right there.” Ordinarily, she’d ask him to come along on the interview to appease him, but she didn’t want him to know she was working on the Crest case in case it got back to Fellows.
Speaking of… “Hey, Dahran, does Fellows have you working on the Crest case?”
“What? No. Why would he?”
“No reason. Just that you and I started the investigation, and he’s keeping us both away from it.”
Dahran gestured at the slew of papers on his messy desk. “You know I’ve got a huge pile of cases already. I don’t really need one more. Warring gives me enough grief as it is.”
Probably because you’re a terrible detective. “Okay, well, see you at the club tonight?”
“I guess.” Despite Dahran’s grumbling, she doubted she’d be treated to a night away from his company.
She headed down the elevator to the ground floor. She considered stopping by to say hi to Olivan, but he’d already told her he had a lot of work to do that afternoon. “Real work,” he’d sworn. Kadin had always been vague on when Olivan found time to do his actual job between his rampant celebrity page stalking and taking the afternoon off for mani-pedis—or in the case of yesterday, to drive her to an interview.
She’d made the decision to take public transit over to Dr. Tell’s office. The autobus should drop her off only a few blocks away. She simply had to wait for the number-thirteen autobus outside her office then switch to the number twenty-one at Market Street.
Before even one bus could come, a bright-red convertible with black leather seats pulled up in front of her with Duke Baurus sitting in the driver’s seat, sunglasses over his eyes and crimson sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Need a lift?”
Kadin hurried over to the passenger side door, but she didn’t get in. “What are you doing here?”
Baurus lifted his sunglasses to look her in the eye. “You said you didn’t have a lift to your interview.”
“No, I said I needed to figure out how to get there, meaning I had to look at the public transit map. There’s a big difference.”
Baurus ran his hands over his arms as if to push up sleeves that were already above his elbows. “Well, I didn’t have anything better to do, so I thought I’d make it easier for you.”
“You know, it doesn’t really make me feel better to know that the guy who rules the city doesn’t have anything better to do than follow me around a routine murder investigation.”
Baurus grinned, not looking offended in the slightest. “Hey, this murder investigation is a big deal for me. The body turned up at my party. My reputation is at stake.”
A loud honk sounded from behind the autocar, and Kadin realized that the large number-thirteen autobus was bearing down on Baurus’s car, which was parked in the autobus-only lane. With a quick look back at the autobus, which she knew she should take, she pulled open the door to Baurus’s convertible and sat down.
As he pulled out into the main traffic lane, Baurus glanced down at her purse. “Is that a ject?”
Kadin pushed Xanidova underneath her wallet—where she swore she’d placed her that morning—and zipped the bag closed. “No. Definitely not.”
Dr. Tell’s office was in the Merchant District, which surprised Kadin more than it should have. Generally, since the kingdom paid equally for all forms of medical care, people were assigned to the facilities nearest where they lived. Coelis Crest should have had a doctor near her apartment in the Nighttime district, according to most people’s standards.
Of course, Coelis Crest was a rich and famous film star, and everyone knew that not all kingdom-funded medical facilities were created equal. The best ones were in the Merchant district, and Coelis Crest would have nothing but the best.
A woman with curly blond hair sat at the receptionist’s desk when Kadin and Baurus walked in. “Do you have an appointment?”
Kadin walked over to the desk while Baurus walked over to admire the paintings on the wall. “My name is Kadin Stone. I believe my associate Olivan King called earlier. I’m an investigator with Valeriel Investigations, and I’d like to talk to Dr. Tell about Coelis Crest.”
The woman tsked. “Such a shame what happened to that poor girl. She was so young and beautiful, sweet too. Always had a kind word for me when she came in.”
“Did she come in often?” asked Kadin.
“Oh, every few months or so, though her last few appointments were on my days off,” said the receptionist. “Dr. Tell did her routine bloodwork when she started on a new film. And she always passed, of course. She was a good girl, no matter what the glossies liked to say.”
“Of course,” said Kadin. “Can you tell Dr. Tell I am here to speak with him?”
“I’ll tell him,” said the receptionist. “But you know doctors, always some emergency or other. You may have to wait a bit.” The woman glanced up, whitening as she noticed Baurus for the first time. “Is that the duke?” she whispered.
Oh, Deity, how to answer that one? “That… is my chauffeur for the afternoon.” Her words were true enough and didn’t require her to explain why a duke was following her around on an investigation.
Kadin sat down on the edge of one of the waiting-room chairs, trying to look as dignified as possible. Baurus flopped down into the chair next to her.
I suppose when you’re a duke, you don’t have to worry about what other people think about your posture. She thought back to her interviews with other Imperials during the investigation into the queen’s death. They had all seemed to care what people thought of their outward appearance. Maybe the outward relaxation was a Baurus thing.
“This guy’s got good taste.” Baurus pointed at the landscape he’d been admiring. “That’s not the original—Bay’s got that in the guest room she likes to stick me in out in Oriole—but it’s a damn good copy.”
Kadin shook her head and tried not to think what her brother Tobin would say about doctors making enough money to buy expensive art for their waiting rooms. Something, something everyone should have equal facilities. Then Octavira would say there was nothing wrong with making money off one’s profession, and Kadin would feel bad for working in the for-profit service sector, and the whole rest of dinner would be awkward.
“You’re frowning,” said Baurus. “Thinking about the case?”
Kadin laughed. “No, thinking about my brother, actually. He’s a doctor too, and he’s not a huge fan of acquiring wealth. Probably why he keeps supporting me in spite of my total failure to find a husband.”
Baurus spread out his hands. “What is it with women and getting husbands? My mother’s the same way. Never seen her so thrilled as the day my sister married Frasis, and that guy’s a total jerk.”
“Yes, well.” Kadin tried not to sound huffy but failed. “Most women don’t have huge fortunes to fall back on, and we can’t make enough money to support ourselves. No one’s going to promote a woman who’s going to run off and get married or become ineligible for employment any day.”
“But that’s the thing,” said Baurus. “Bay did have a huge fortune to fall back on. There’s no reason she should have had to get married, except that my mother threatened to disinherit her. You say it’s about money and supporting yourself, but it’s not just that.”
Kadin had never really thought about it from the point of view of an Imperial before—and really, why should she? They were the rich elite, so far above her that she couldn’t touch them, except she was now within arm’s reach of a duke, and she’d spent over an hour on the phone with a king the other day. So maybe she should take their whole perspectives on marriage to heart.
“What is it, then?”
“It’s this horrible norm ingrained in our culture that women can’t be anything or do anything without a man, and it’s perpetuated as much by women as anybody else. I once told my mother and Bay I was going to fight for women’s rights in the Assembly, and the resulting shouting match could be heard from the next estate.”
Considering how much space there was between Imperial estates, that was saying something.
“Seriously, Kadin, do you even want to get married?” asked Baurus. “I know you can’t possibly want to marry that idiot you’re dating, but even if you did. Is that what you really want? A white picket fence, two-point-five kids, and being completely dependent on someone else for everything?”
Kadin stared at Baurus. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say. She expected Baurus wanted her to say what she actually thought, but yes and no stuck to the tip of her tongue in equal measure. Yes, it’s what I’m supposed to want. No, Deity save me, that sounds boring. Yes, it’s what will keep me safe and secure. No, it’s not really safe for my well-being to rely on one person.
Baurus’s hazel eyes drilled into Kadin’s. “Because, Kadin, if you want to get married that badly—”
“Miss Stone?”
Kadin started away from the spell Baurus had her under.
“Dr. Tell will see you now.”
“Excellent.” Kadin rose, feeling dizzy. I must have gotten up too quickly. All the blood rushed to my head. That had to be it. It couldn’t be a reaction to that conversation or a deep desire to know how Baurus planned to finish his sentence.
Dr. Tell’s office was as elaborately designed as his waiting room. Judging by the gold-plated mahogany that made up the bulk of the furniture, Kadin thought the man’s job paid well. That the tall, thin, balding man behind the desk wore a designer suit that would not have been out of place in the boardroom of Valeriel Investigations added to her suspicions. Since Kadin knew quite well the kind of lifestyle a doctor could usually afford in Valeriel, she had to assume that Dr. Tell’s income was quite illegal.
Or maybe he’s independently wealthy or something—became a doctor to give back to the community.
“Miss Stone.” Dr. Tell stood and held out his hand to her, and she took it. She had to resist a shudder at the cold clamminess of his hand. “And your associate is…”
“Baurus DeValeriel.” The duke held out his hand, seeming to take Dr. Tell’s flustered response in stride. “Don’t worry,” Baurus added with a wink. “She asks the questions. I’m just along for the ride.”
“I see,” said Tell as all three of them sat down. His tone said, I don’t see at all.
Kadin supposed that a doctor who strove as hard as Tell to rise above his station wouldn’t understand why a duke would be slumming it with a lady detective. Though, come to think of it, Kadin also wasn’t entirely sure why Baurus was following her around.
“Well, then, Miss Stone,” said Tell. “How can I help you today?”
“I understood you were Coelis Crest’s doctor.” Kadin hated the hesitant sound in her voice, but her questions were delicate, and she had no way of knowing how Tell would respond. “I don’t want to put you on the spot or ask you to confess to a crime, but it’s very important that we know Miss Crest’s actual medical history, which is to say you have certified several times that Miss Crest was not taking birth control pills, and I need to know whether those documents were falsified.”
Baurus snorted.
Kadin glared at him. “Something to say?”
“Just that of course he accepts bribes for falsifying those ridiculous birth control documents. He didn’t get this rich on a doctor’s salary.” Baurus leaned forward. “Isn’t that right, doctor?”
Kadin gritted her teeth. “I’m terribly sorry, Dr. Tell. My—”
She avoided having to put a name to her and Baurus’s relationship when Dr. Tell interrupted. “His Grace is quite correct. A number of young women take birth control pills for a variety of reasons, not simply to avoid pregnancy. Regulation of the menstrual cycle is one. I am of the belief that we should not take choices away from women simply because they have a medical need.”
“So you provide this service out of the goodness of your heart?” Baurus managed to indicate the doctor’s designer suit and expensive furniture with only his eyes.
“Well, a man has to eat,” said Tell. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t benefit from the service I provide.”
“And you only falsify documentation for women who have a medical need for birth control pills?” asked Kadin.
“Ah, well, not necessarily.�
�� Tell folded his hands. “You see, I believe in choices for women, including the choice to have sex when they choose.”
“And Coelis Crest was one of those women whose choices you respected?” asked Kadin.
Tell sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “In a word, yes.”
Today is apparently my day for people rubbing women’s choices in my face. Is it really that hard to not have sex? I seem to have managed just fine.
“Do you have any evidence of these transactions?” asked Kadin.
Tell picked up a folder and handed it to Kadin. “Foreseeing your request, I took the liberty of printing out both the official results and the modified document.”
Kadin glanced at the two papers, each dated two months ago. They looked identical to each other, except that one listed a positive result for the second of five tests.
“Five tests?’ she asked.
“Ah, yes,” said Tell. “There are any number of illicit new birth control products on the black market at any given time. The state requires testing for these five specific substances.”
Kadin nodded. “Is there anything else you know about Miss Crest’s medical history that might be relevant to the case?”
“Not that I can think of.” Tell gave her a small smile. “Miss Crest did not so much as have the sniffles in all the time I have known her.”
Kadin nodded and made a note. “And how long has that been?”
“I’ve been her sole medical provider for five years.”
She still lived with her parents out in the suburbs then. Interesting that she would have needed the specialty services of someone like Tell even then.
Kadin stood up and held out her hand. “Thank you, Dr. Tell. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Baurus and Tell rose as well, and Tell shook her hand. “You are very welcome, Miss Stone. I can’t think of any other information I might have, but if you think of any further questions, don’t hesitate to stop by.”
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