Odd Cases

“Why did you call me?” Zach asked.

“Because you can get in to see the burned building without questions being asked,” I said.

“And why would I care about the cabin my cousin burned down?”

“Hey!” Chase argued, “I was arsoned.”

“A likely story. Don’t trust him, Jules.”

“I don’t,” I said, “But it’s awfully convenient that my companion in this investigation had his place of residence burned down in a similar manner to Cho’s.”

Zach’s gaze didn’t soften.

“Earring,” I said.

“This case,” Zach countered.

“Coffee,” I said. I’d already paid for that favor. I still had half of that favor left by my count.

“Monopoly.”

“Rat Basement.”

Zach put his hands up. I knew nothing could beat the Rat Basement unless I called it myself.

“Fine, but we’re even for that after this.”

We walked behind Zach with his official badge.

“CSI, there’s something suspicious about the fire, these consultants are helping me.”

Without any questions, the people around the scene let us in. I moved toward the center of the damage, with Zach and Chase being a little bit slower about it.

“Do you smell that?” Chase asked.

I sniffed. Sweet, like Cho’s house before.

“Just like cookies.”

“Vanilla extract,” Zach said, “The alcohol content isn’t high, but if it was expired, and it’s purpose was to jumpstart the fire…”

“But that wouldn’t explain how Cho died,” I said, “Did they add xenobotanicum to the mix?”

“No, I don’t think they’d need any elusives. I think the dust in his lungs is the reason it smells like cookies and not just vanilla.”

“He choked on flour?” I asked.

Zach nodded.

“And the explosions probably weren’t a piece of cake either.”

Chase and I took a moment to glare at him.

“Eve,” I said, “She asked for Chase’s address, and she really pushed the Shelley angle.”

“The neighbor with the cookies?” Chase asked, “She burned down my house?”

“We don’t know that yet,” I said.

“It’s not your house,” Zach said.

“But if we have evidence that both of these were started by the same person—” I began.

“Then we can get the girlfriend out of custody so they can search for the real killer,” Zach concluded.

 “You’re kidding me,” Kinter said.

I sat just outside their offices, which Vi had hidden in to let me hear what was being said.

“Ms. Carin didn’t have time to set this fire,” Ali said, “Not to mention the fact she had an alibi for the first one, and what motive would she have for the second one?”

“You’re just doing this because you have a soft-spot for Emery,” Kinter argued.

Ali adjusted her stance.

“Ms. Emery has a far better track record than you for finding the right suspect, so I am going to take her word over yours, not to mention since Mr. Hilger is superhuman, we have just cause to investigate the fire at his home anyways.”

Kinter fumed.

“We’re not letting her out of custody.”

“Are you challenging my authority?” Ali asked.

“No, ma’am,” Kinter said in a cowering tone.

“We let her free with an escort, keep eyes on her until we’re sure, especially since she could be the next target if she isn’t the culprit.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re dismissed.”

As Kinter closed the door, Ali picked Vi up by the shoulders.

“I hope it was satisfying to hear that, Jules. You’d better hope you’re right about the neighbor.”

“Eve Nathanson?” Ali asked as Eve opened the door.

“Yes, Detective Chase?”

“Can we take a look at your kitchen cabinets?”

“Do you have a warrant?”

Ali looked at me like that was evidence enough I was right.

“Not yet.”

“Then I’d rather not let a bunch of strangers rummage through my cabinets, personally.”

I wouldn’t either.

“Can you tell us where you were between midnight and 4 am last night?”

“Am I a suspect?” Eve asked.

“Everyone’s a suspect, and considering how often you bake cookies, I assume you have vanilla extract in your house.”

Eve looked at Ali, then at me, then her hands went across my collarbone as she tried to grab me. The expression on her face was entertaining until she ran right through me to the waiting arms of Ali’s team.

“Clever,” I admitted, “Getting her to run like that.”

“Couldn’t risk her cleaning up before the warrant. Thanks, Jules.”

“You’re welcome.” I watched Eve struggle.

“You have to understand,” she pleaded, “They’re all monsters, witches!”

I almost lifted my voice to disagree, but I had better things to do.

I sat on a distant bench as Shelley left the Living Lighters meeting. She stared at her stomach, moving forward carefully as the sun went down.

“I told you Richard didn’t do it,” Bill said.

“Because you assumed Shelley to be at fault.”

Bill hung his head in shame.

“You died because of flour inhalation by the way,” I informed him. “Combined with smoke and other things you shouldn’t take in. Not a fun way to go.”

Bill shook his head.

“What’s going to happen with her and the baby?”

I shrugged.

“I’m a Medium, not an Oracle.”

“But she’s—”

“Pregnant, with your child, which might be why she got so angry with you, all things considered. Hormones do wonders and disasters to one’s mind.”

Bill wasn’t paying attention to me. He just kept watching Shelley.

“You’re not completely yourself, obviously,” I explained, “You know that. You’re the part that holds most of your personality, but you don’t have muscle memory, or a favorite food, or sounds that make you gag anymore. Everything physical about you is gone.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Bill asked.

“Because you need to understand that Shelley will likely never know if you stay with her. You won’t be coming back to her, you will be haunting her. How much she pays attention to that is a bigger question.”

“What about my son?”

“Or daughter, or you could just say child. I still don’t get mortals and their assumptions about gender. Half the people I grew up with considered themselves a different gender by the time they were adults, not that most of them are alive to care.”

I wasn’t fond of Feyla anymore, especially because people there insisted on calling it Magek as if one continent could define a whole world. That didn’t mean I loved Earth as my new home either. Both were so backwards at times.

“But I can stay,” Bill said, shaking me out of my judgments.

“Your will is the only thing keeping you here,” I explained, “Will’s a lot more unconscious than we think it is, and your will is still around Shelley.”

“Still?” Bill asked.

“I don’t think you actually wanted me to find out how you died. I think you wanted something to prove Shelley didn’t do it. Whoever sent you to me knew I was clever enough to figure it out, but you’d have to intrigue me to make sure I’d see it through.”

I knew the one person who would call me a granter, and there were many reasons we didn’t talk.

“Should you see him again,” I said, “Ask him how the Sovereign is.”

“The Sovereign?”

“He’ll know who I mean.”

A car drove up, and three people, including Richard Cho, stepped out. The woman, presumably he and Bill’s mother, was crying as she came up to Shelley. I didn’t listen in on their conversation, but Bill and I continued to watch.

“I can’t leave,” Bill said.

“I assumed as much.”

Spirits’ appearances are different in a way that’s hard to describe, but possible to explain. They’re not quite a person’s perception of who they were, but rather what their own will makes them out to be. I had a suspicion the William Cho I knew looked an awful lot like the man who fell in love with Shelley Carin.

“As I’ve done a favor for you,” I said, “If you do not pass on before then, I may have need of you. Think of it like a debt of the soul—a favor for a favor.”

Bill nodded.

“Now go protect what’s important.”

I answered a knock on the door of the shop, ready for a customer or a new job. I rarely had a chance to get bored in my life.

“Zach still doesn’t want me in his house,” Chase said, barging into the shop.

“Sure, come right in.”

“Thanks,” Chase said, “Are you sure you don’t have an extra room or something?”

“Only Romeo’s, and I’m not taking the man’s bed away considering all he’s lost.”

“Noble of you,” Chase said, “Are you sure you have nothing.”

“Fairly positive. Are you staying in town?”

Chase nodded.

“I have spent a long time being bored, and you seem like someone with an interesting life.”

I shrugged.

“It’s a power-town. There’s a ‘bride of justice’ running around, several people who don’t age, and the local gym also hosts superhuman fights. The woman who solves ghost mysteries isn’t especially distinct. It’s why I like it here.”

“Distinct is different than interesting.”

“So you want to help me?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“You stole a car and revealed to a woman that she was pregnant. I’m not sure what you actually bring to this process.”

“I’m fast, and I don’t get hurt easily, but I am good at making friends.”

I crossed my arms.

“I can’t really stop you,” I acknowledged, “But I can’t offer you a room.”

“I can!” Romeo yelled as he came downstairs, “I do not sleep, so most nights I go outside to watch people, and I do not care to have personal possessions while on Earth. I’d much rather return to Muninn.”

“Muninn?” Chase asked.

“It will all be explained.”

I offered my hand.

“Chase Hilger, was it?”

“For now, yes,” Chase answered.

“Pleasure to work with you Mr. Hilger.”