SIX
(12/23/319 0230 London, Blue Continent)
William woke when he hit the floor. He groaned and slowly rolled over to stare at the dark line of edge of the bed above him in the darkness. He immediately realized that moving had been a mistake as his stomach rebelled and tried to crawl up and out his throat. His head was a pounding mess and his chest and torso were throbbing pains that stabbed through all of the other pain.
But his stomach was the worst and Cooper lurched to his feet and stumbled frantically for the bathroom. Light flared across his vision as he hit the edge of the doorway and slammed backwards to the ground, holding his head where it had hit the doorjamb. Trickling warmth let him know he’d split his head open when he hit, but his stomach was not to be denied and so he shrugged off the new pain in his head as he crawled into the bathroom.
Ignoring the toilet, William pulled himself into the shower and managed to get to his hands and knees just before throwing up. When he was done, he pushed up onto his knees and turned the water on, adjusting it to be as hot as he could stand. He held onto the knobs until he thought the worst of the mess had gone down the drain before collapsing onto the floor of the shower and rolling onto his back to let the hot water pound down on his body. Regularly water from the shower filled his open mouth and he swallowed it down. Twice more he rolled over to throw up and each time he put himself back on the floor of the shower to drink more water.
Finally his stomach calmed down enough that he thought he was done puking. Gingerly he felt his head where he’d split it open, wincing at the feel of pulped flesh. With the shower on, he couldn’t tell if it had stopped bleeding but since it wasn’t going to kill him anytime soon, it wasn’t important.
An assessment of the rest of his pains suggested at least one cracked rib and strained muscles in his chest, back and arms. “What did I do, get in a brawl,” he muttered. Slowly he levered himself up and managed to turn off the shower before dropping back to the floor.
After a few minutes he slowly clambered to his feet and, moving at an arthritic pace, left the shower and shut the door to the bathroom. He flipped on the light and gasped as the sudden illumination sent spears of agony through his head. He squeezed his eyes shut as they adapted and slowly opened them.
In the mirror his eyes were so bloodshot that it was hard to tell what color they were and the pressure cut on his forehead was still oozing blood. He touched the injury and winced.
A gentle knock came from the door. “Cooper?” Gloria eased the door open and slipped inside the bathroom. If he hadn’t been in so much pain, he would have laughed at her. Her hair was one solid mass of knots and her eyes were glowing red coals that appeared and disappeared rapidly as she blinked in the bright light. She slipped past him to the toilet, dropped to her knees in front of it and vomited noisily. At the smell, Cooper’s stomach twisted but he managed to keep it under control. After she was done, she joined him at the sink so she could wash her face and gargle with some mouthwash. Then she noticed his face. “What happened to you?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure.” He held still as she took his head in her hands and examined his head. “That I got when I smacked into the door frame on the way to the bathroom.”
Gloria muttered softly as she rubbed her palms together. They began to glisten with an amber creamy substance. “Hold still.” She ran her palms over his injury, slathering on the magical goo and the pain vanished. In the mirror he watched as the wound began to shrink. “This isn’t that good with bruises and so you may still end up with a black eye.”
“I can live with that. How come you’re not hung over like I am?”
She smiled softly. “Alcohol is a toxin and my poison purging spell pulled it all to my stomach for me to throw up. I’m still dehydrated and have a headache. Besides, you drank a lot more than I did last night.”
“Did I? I don’t remember much. I haven’t been that drunk since I swore I’d never get that drunk again.”
“You might want to renew that oath.” Gloria tugged at her hair. “I’ll be hours working out all of the tangles. I don’t suppose you’d take me down to the pokegirl center and run me through a healing cycle to fix everything all at once?”
“Sure. The walk would give me a chance to clear my head.” He chuckled as he watched her stretch in the mirror. “I’m not used to you running around here nude. I like it.”
She shrugged. “I like wearing my nightgown and you watch me more when you can’t see everything so don’t get used to it. I didn’t have a chance to change into it last night during our little party.”
“We had a little party?” He frowned. “I got so drunk I don’t remember last night but I could still get an erection?”
“The selective breeding of humans since the Revenge War to increase their sexual energy and satisfy their pokegirls has produced some strange things.” Gloria touched her hair again and sighed. “I’ll get some clothes and my pokeball.” She opened the door and headed into the bedroom. “I should probably get hers too.”
Cooper stepped into the bedroom as the light came on. “Hers?” He blinked at the naked foot sticking out from under the sheets. “Oh, bloody hell. I had sex with a stranger last night?”
Gloria slapped the foot and the form twitched. “Bathroom’s empty if you have to puke. William is taking me to the pokegirl center to get healed. You want to come?”
The sheets jerked down to reveal a mass of tousled brown hair. She rolled over and Cooper stared at Seraphina’s face as she yawned. “I don’t have to vomit. I can drink a lot more than you, wench, but a healing cycle sounds great right now. You two were quite the workout.”
“Seraphina?”
Gloria looked up from rummaging through her dresser. “Don’t sound so surprised, Coop. You invited her here last night.”
“I did?”
Seraphina rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up. “Actually, Glory, you’re the one who dragged me to your place. He said he wasn’t too sure this was a good idea and you insisted. I do admit that he did decide it was fine once we started playing in bed.”
Gloria got a funny look on her face. “I did,” she asked in the same stunned tone Cooper had used. “I asked you here? I don’t remember that.” She blinked and her face went even paler than usual. “Yes I do. Oh, fuck, I did this.”
“Cussing.” Seraphina gave Gloria a smug smile as the Enchantress’s eyes went wide and then she glared. “And yes you did. Thanks.”
“Did what?” Both women turned to look at Cooper. “What is going on?”
Gloria shot Seraphina a look as the brunette opened her mouth. It snapped shut. Gloria squared her shoulders and turned to face him, drawing to attention as she did. “William, last night I apparently invited Seraphina to join your harem.” He just looked at her until she grew concerned. “William?”
He frowned slowly. “Aren’t you supposed to at least pretend that I have a say in this?” Something in his tone caused Seraphina’s face to go completely blank and Gloria to flush slightly.
“Of course you have a say, William. It’s your harem.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not stupid, Gloria. You already told me that you’re the gatekeeper for my harem and it would be your approval which decided whether or not a specific pokegirl would be presented for my approval or disapproval.”
She turned bright red, the flush going down over her breasts to her stomach. Seraphina gaped at her. “You told him that?”
“Not in so many words,” she mumbled, “but what I said might have sounded something like that.”
“Oh, great, my alpha is an idiot.” She shifted to face Cooper. “Sir, the final decision is always yours. If you find someone you want and she doesn’t like it, all she can do is suffer in silence and make the girl’s life hell when you’re not paying attention. She’ll try to vet any girls you might be interested in and because she’s a jealous bitch they’ll never be good enough for you. That’s why I was so surprised last night when she asked me to come home with you two. If you say the word, I’ll leave right now.” She slid out of the bed. “In fact, I should go.”
“Sit down.” She ignored him and began looking for her clothes. He took a deep breath and bellowed. “I said sit the hell down!” His head exploded in pain. Seraphina jumped and promptly dropped to the floor cross-legged, spinning in place to face him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Did I tame you last night?”
“Yes you did, sir. Repeatedly.”
“Did you bond to me?”
She nodded hesitantly. “I can feel it already.” She slapped the floor next to her gently. “That’s why I immediately obeyed when you told me to sit down.”
“I don’t remember it.”
She looked down at the floor. “Oh.”
“So,” he continued relentlessly, “when I’m completely sober we’ll have to do it again so it’s real to me too.”
Her head came up and the broadest smile he’d ever seen on anyone appeared. “I’m staying, sir?”
Her head came up and the broadest smile he’d ever seen on anyone appeared. “I’m staying, sir?”
He nodded. “Just don’t call me sir if you’re only doing it to keep me from getting angry. It doesn’t work and I am a corporal, sergeant.”
She chuckled. “Ah, yes, that buggered situation. What should I call you?”
“My name is William. I also answer to Cooper.”
“Not Billy?”
He shook his head. “My father is Bill. I’ll answer to it since people really seem to like mangling my name, but,” he shrugged.
“But you don’t like it,” Gloria finished for him. “What about Will?”
“I like Willy even less than Billy.”
“I’ve been calling you Coop. Do you have a problem with it?”
“No, I don’t.” He stretched slowly, wincing when fresh pain lanced through his ribs. “Gloria, did I get into a fight at the bar? I seem to have a cracked rib and a lot of bruises.”
Seraphina blinked. “I probably did it, sir. Sometimes I squeeze too hard. We should probably stick to pony style until I get used to being with a man again.”
“That might be a good idea. Now you two find your clothes and let’s get you cleaned up.” He paused as they went back to dressing. “Gloria, does this mean Seraphina is going to be promoted to detective?”
She grimaced. “Yes, I get to train two new people at the same time. The major is going to be happy for another useful warm body and ticked because his budget is going to get strained again. Fortunately Sera is a quick study and you, well sometimes you’re too smart. The major will quickly realize that he doesn’t have to worry about having either of you wash back to patrol.”
Cooper idly listened to her while enjoying watching Seraphina wriggle into her panties. He frowned when she pulled on her uniform skirt and began buttoning it closed. “You were in uniform at the wake?”
“I just went off shift, William.” She buttoned up her uniform blouse and tucked it into her skirt. “Besides, I don’t own much in the way of civilian clothing. I don’t need it.” She smiled warmly. “I haven’t until now.”
“That makes sense.” He quickly threw on some clothes and his standard off duty gear. “Seraphina,” he began.
“You can call me Sera if you want. Everyone else does.”
“That sounds like a good reason to call you something else. Everyone calls Gloria Glory, and I don’t. I call her Gloria.”
Gloria stopped pulling on her shoes to stare at him. “You’ve never called me Glory, have you?”
“Nope.”
“I think I like that. It’s special. What are you thinking about calling Sera?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe it’ll be something cute such as Brownie.”
Gloria looked at Seraphina. “If you do, can I call her Brownie too?”
“I don’t see why not. Seraphina?”
The brunette looked thoughtful before nodding. “It can be the name my family uses. Can I get offended if someone outside the family calls me that?”
“Feel free to get in their face about it. Just nothing that would get you removed from my harem.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I do have one question for Brownie.”
“What’s that?”
“Since you’re in my harem I think I should know what breed of pokegirl you are.”
Seraphina’s mouth dropped. “You don’t know? I thought you did.”
“Gloria never mentioned it and you never said.”
“You didn’t scan me?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t important.”
“But without knowing what I am how could you be sure that I could protect you at the crime scene?”
“Gloria trusted you to and I trust her to keep me safe.”
Seraphina turned to stare at Gloria. “You actually think you can keep this one alive?”
“I don’t have much choice at this point, but I am flattered that he trusts me enough to trust my decisions. It suggests there’s hope.”
“It’s a good thing you got me added to the harem.” She turned back to Cooper. “I am a Rapitaur.”
He frowned. “Then why aren’t you in a harem?” A smile flitted across her face and he grinned back. “I mean before you joined mine. Rapitaur are excellent rapid response and deployment pokegirls. Everybody wants one.”
“They want one they can ride, William. I’m too big for humans or normal sized pokegirls to ride.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will when you see her change,” Gloria interjected. “She’s huge.”
“If you don’t mind, I can explain without the commentary,” Seraphina gave the Enchantress a cross look. “Most Rapitaur grow between ten and thirty centimeters when they change from their human to centaur forms. They tend to wear skirts and loose blouses so they don’t have to get naked before transforming. If you transform and your clothes aren’t loose enough, they’ll bind and rip. I am a hundred and seventy one centimeters tall and mass forty eight and a half kilograms in human form. In my centaur form I’m three hundred and seventy six centimeters tall and I mass one thousand seven hundred and forty kilograms.” She nodded at his shocked expression. “I would have to wear something so loose it would look huge on me, so when I change I have to strip completely.” She tugged on the waistband of her skirt. “I go from a sixty four centimeter waist to a hundred and forty. If I don’t have time to get undressed I rip seams and sometimes end up with bruises from it. It’s why I don’t transform unless I really have to. Because of all of this, my equine torso is too large for humans to straddle and therefore I’m rather uncomfortable to ride.”
He smiled slightly. “If you don’t transform, why do you wear the special boots?”
“They’re standard issue to all centaur metamorphs. They burst open when we transform so they can be reused.”
“Gloria, do you think you could enchant some clothes for Brownie that would grow and shrink as she changes?”
The Enchantress nodded. “It would take a little while and I’d have to do it for each item of clothing she wants to change with her.”
“Then you’ve got a project.”
“I was hoping to work on some enchanted tattoos for you remember?”
“I haven’t forgotten. I’m leaning towards allowing it.”
“That’s good.”
“I’m glad you think so.” He held out his hand. “Pokeballs please, ladies, unless you want to walk with me to the pokegirl center.”
***
(12/23/319 0945 London, Blue Continent)
Major Neff looked up when Cooper knocked on his door frame. “Got a minute, major?”
“I’m kind of busy, Cooper. Come back in an hour.”
“Yessir.” He turned to Maggie as she headed for Neff’s office with two mugs of coffee. “Captain, you’ll want to know that I added to my harem last night. She’s checking in with her commander and informing him before reporting here.”
The Gun Bunny scowled as he started to head back to Gloria’s desk. “Don’t you move, mister.” She waited until she was sure he wasn’t leaving before she marched into Neff’s office and put one of the mugs on his blotter in front of him. “Major, you want to hear Cooper now and not after you’ve filled out the daily personnel report. We’re getting another warm body.”
“Cooper, get in here!” William stepped into the office. “Shut the door, Corporal.”
Cooper pushed the office door shut and stood at ease in front of Neff’s desk. “Sir.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
“I added to my harem last night. She’s a uniformed officer and she’s checking out of her station right now.”
Neff shook his head. “Just how drunk did you get at the wake, Cooper?”
“I don’t see where that is important, major.”
“Do you know what beer goggling is?”
“No sir.”
“It’s an archaic term that you might want to look up. What about buyer’s remorse?”
“I am familiar with that one sir and I don’t think I’ll have reason to regret adding this pokegirl to my harem.”
Major Neff’s eyes bored into Cooper’s. “I disagree. You’re not past your probationary period and you’re already adding more useless bodies to my roster? Send her back.”
Cooper’s glare matched Neff’s. “She’s more qualified than I am, major, and Gloria thinks she’ll be a good detective. She’s taken and PNA’d the detective’s exam at least once. The only reason she wasn’t promoted is because she’s a harem widow.”
Maggie’s mouth dropped for a second as Neff frowned. “What’s a harem widow?”
“She lost her tamer and doesn’t have one right now. For that reason she didn’t advance, even though she passed her exam.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s Sergeant Seraphina Rapitaur Cooper, sir.”
Maggie blinked at him over her coffee. “Are you talking about Sera the giant Rapitaur?”
“She’s shorter than I am.”
“Don’t waste time with humor on me, Cooper. She’s a metamorphic sport, major, and the largest Rapitaur in the Met. I must admit I’m surprised about this one. Glory isn’t one to accept strange pokegirls into her harem without a fight and I wasn’t aware she and Sera knew each other.”
Cooper shrugged. “Their meeting predated the Met. They served together in the BLSF before eventually transferring to the MPS, ma’am.”
Now it was Neff’s turn to blink. “This Rapitaur was in the Blackguards?”
Cooper’s mouth sagged but he recovered quickly. “I wasn’t aware Gloria was.”
Maggie smiled slightly. “As her tamer, you have access to Glory’s record. Perhaps you should take the time to acquaint yourself with it.”
“I’ll do that first thing, ma’am.”
Neff scowled at them both. “You tell Glory that if this Seraphina isn’t up to speed on the day your six month probationary period is up, I’ll put all three of you back in uniform the day after that.”
Cooper’s pulse sped up. “I’ll tell her. Will there be anything else?”
“No. Get back to work.”
Maggie followed him out of the office. “A word, Cooper.”
He considered the light year between her rank and his and said the only thing he could. “Yes, ma’am.”
She led him to a quiet office and shut the door behind them. “Why did Glory tell you about harem widows? That’s not a phrase humans normally need to know about.”
“Gloria mentioned it when we were discussing a wake for Rosalind. I’d never heard it before and got her to clarify what it was.”
The Gun Bunny’s ears flattened for a heartbeat. “She shouldn’t have done that.”
Cooper’s eyebrows went up. “Are you saying that she should have refused a direct order for an explanation from her tamer?”
Maggie opened her mouth and paused at something she saw in his eyes. Abruptly she realized that this was a very murky situation. She outranked Cooper by a great deal and knew he was aware of it but she was still a pokegirl and Gloria was his pokegirl and the look in his eyes made her realize he was aware of that too. Interfering in the relationship between him and his alpha without a militarily significant reason could find both her and her major in a difficult position, one that could end their careers.
Cooper watched her recognize the landmine she’d stepped on and when he was satisfied that she wouldn’t detonate it, he decided to offer her a way out. “I am well aware of the fact that there is a hidden world in which pokegirls live, humans rarely find themselves and pokegirls don’t like being shown to the humans. If you’d like, I’ll try to not mention that phrase or its meaning to another human again unless I have no choice.”
Maggie took the rope he’d thrown her. “I would appreciate that a great deal, corporal.”
***
(12/23/319 1700 London, Blue Continent)
Cooper pulled his bike to a stop and waited patiently as Gloria and Seraphina quickly joined him. “I’ve known Gloria for less than a month and Seraphina for only a few days. Because of this, I wanted you to understand that I have no idea what to get either of you for Christmas and I realize you have no idea of what to get me. I’d like to suggest that we keep Christmas small this year because of it.”
Seraphina nodded. “You bringing me into your harem and keeping me once you sobered up is the best present I’ve ever gotten.” She flashed a grin. “So you put a bow around your neck that morning and I’ll be satisfied as long as I can play with my new gift sometime that day.”
He chuckled. “I think something along those lines can be arranged. Gloria?”
“I’d like you to let me give you a tattoo and enchant it. That would be a satisfactory present for me.”
He looked into her eyes and gave a mental sigh. “If that’s what you want then so be it. Something small that can be hidden under my clothes, please.”
“I’ll take care of it, Coop. What do you want us to get you?”
He shrugged. “Nothing too expensive. Right now we probably need to feel out what each of us is used to for Christmas, if anything. I know a lot of tamers don’t celebrate the holiday with their harems.”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t have a harem until Rosalind.” He smiled at their almost identical expressions of amazement. “I knew what I was going to do with my life and focused on that. A harem would have significantly slowed down my progress at university. Instead of having a harem, I was one of the weird guys that rotated through the various free pokegirls working on campus, as long as they didn’t want to get attached to anyone. Or I was one of the guys they rotated through, depending on the side you look at it from.”
Seraphina gave him a curious look. “What about the human girls there?”
“I’ve never had sex with a human. The women at university are very goal oriented and, unless that goal is to find a husband there, they know that sleeping around is a really bad idea. Even the ones husband hunting tend to be celibate since women get their pick of men pretty much whenever they want.” He nodded to Gloria. “I was nervous being nude around her when we met because I wasn’t sure if she was human or not.”
“So you don’t think that pokegirls are people, William?”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what I said and you know it. You are a person, Seraphina. You’re not human, but you’re still a person.”
She nodded. “How do you define human?”
“I go with the legal definition, which is someone who doesn’t go feral and who always needs a member of the opposite gender to have a child is human. Any other sentient is a pokegirl but we’re all people with roles to play based on who we are.”
“I’ve always wondered about that,” Gloria said suddenly. “Why is the definition so specific? All pokegirls could be defined as someone who can go feral.”
Cooper shook his head. “That doesn’t include the legendaries. They don’t, at least not as far as anyone knows. But they can’t reproduce, either with or without a male.”
“Doesn’t that exclude sterile humans?”
Cooper nodded. “It does, but we work with what we have.” He glanced at the sky. “And we need to be moving if we’re going to make it to the restaurant while they’ve still got tiramisu. Papa Luigi’s only makes so much each night and we don’t want to miss out.”
***
(12/24/319 0230 London, Blue Continent)
Cooper startled upright when all three com units shrilled at once and then yelped as he was knocked flying out of the bed as Seraphina did the same thing. He managed to turn the impact into a roll that put him back on his feet, throwing out his hands in time to stop from slamming face first into the wall. His palms tingled from the impact. “I can see living with you is going to take some adapting,” he muttered as he spun around and lunged for the closest communicator. “Cooper.”
Soft laughter issued from the unit. “Corporal, you’re using Lieutenant Gloria’s communicator.”
“Evening, Millie. Do you ever sleep?”
“Not like you understand it, sir. I’m a free pokegirl and I volunteered to work triple shifts for the pay. I get pokeballed and healed once every eight hours and I get tamed once a week. Other than that I’m always on duty. I’ll do this for the next year or two before shifting to a more regular schedule.”
“I guess I won’t be inviting you to Christmas dinner then.” She laughed again. “What’s the situation?”
“You’ve got another body, sir. The coordinates have been downloaded to your computer. In the future I’ll copy them to the lieutenant’s and the sergeant’s, sir, so you don’t have to locate your own com.”
There was no way to mistake the humor in her voice and she was right. “Thanks, Millie.”
“You are quite welcome sir. Can I convey my congratulations to Sergeant Seraphina, sir? She’s a sweet girl and deserves a good tamer of her own. I think she got lucky with you.”
“You’re right,” Seraphina said loudly as she rolled out of bed. “Thanks, Millie.”
“You’re welcome, Sera. I’ll call you later when things are quiet.” The com clicked and went silent.
Cooper tossed it to Gloria and grabbed his pants, wincing as he reached for them. “Brownie, we are going to have to work on your bed manners.”
“Sorry, William, but I’ve lived alone for years now. Should I sleep in the other bedroom?”
“No, but maybe we’ll put you where you can hit Gloria for a while when you wake up instead of me.” Gloria glared at him as she grabbed a clean outfit and headed for the bathroom. He smiled at them both. “Happy Christmas Eve, ladies.”
***
(12/24/319 0245 London, Blue Continent)
The uniformed officer gestured at the body. “Meet Mona the Spiderwoman. She’s a free pokegirl who ran a custom alterations business out of her house.” He gestured down the street. “She worked out of her office and it’s only two blocks down that way. She almost made it to safety.” He blinked when he saw the weapon Seraphina was carrying. “Damn, are we expecting a war?”
It was a weapon worth a second look. The R-7 was a 9mm automatic rifle that fired in three modes, single shot, five round burst and fully automatic at 300 rounds per minute. It was fed from a two hundred round drum magazine or a belt feed. The ammunition was a copy of the pre Revenge War .375 H&H Magnum round. The whole system weighed seven kilograms and was used with a bipod. What Seraphina carried was the R-7/II. It mated two R-7s together and fed each of them from its own four hundred round drum. It could be fired single shot alternating from one chamber to the other, alternating fire at a reduced rate of 150 rounds per minute per weapon (300 rounds per minute total) or fully automatic two weapon fire at a combined rate of 600 rounds per minute. It weighed twenty kilograms and was only carried by pokegirls with enhanced strength. Seraphina was strong enough to use it with a folding stock as a submachine gun.
Seraphina shifted the weapon on her shoulder and shrugged. “War is like the Spanish Inquisition. I never expect it but I’m ready for it.”
Cooper had seen a familiar form standing near the body. “Hi, Laney. What did you find?”
The G-Poindexter looked around and smiled when she saw him. “It’s about time you and Glory showed up. I was about to give up on you and go home.”
He smiled back. “We knew you had things well in hand and stopped off for a twelve course banquet. Of course, the people having it quickly realized we didn’t belong and had us ejected from the restaurant. What can you tell me about Mona?”
“She certainly won’t be doing any moaning anytime soon. She’s been dead for about two hours, putting the time of death between midnight and one am. Death was due to exsanguination from a single deep slice across the throat. After death the abdominal wall was sliced open and the intestines lifted out so the killer could remove the uterus and fallopian tubes.” She glanced at him to make sure he was paying attention. “The test for paraspray was positive. It’s your killer.”
“Happy Christmas,” he muttered.
“Yeah, I like a fresh corpse as the start of my holiday too.” Laney nodded at where Gloria was standing with some uniformed officers near the wall of some shop. “I see she’s seen the note.”
“Note?”
“The killer painted the words ‘who am I’ on the wall with this poor girl’s blood.”
“That’s new and disturbing. Escalation is never good unless the killer is becoming disorganized.”
Laney shook her head. “That’s not happening, at least not from a forensic standpoint. There’re no unusual scents, no strange psychic or magic emanations or residue. According to the mage who performed the initial survey it’s like this poor girl came along, cut herself up and turned the knife into air before she died.”
“Yeah, the other crime scenes were the same way.”
“Coop!” Gloria was waving imperiously towards him. “Come here.”
He pushed to his feet. “Laney, please make sure they do the full chem workup, please.”
“You know you’re grasping at straws, right?”
“Straws are all I’ve got to grasp right now.” He headed over to Gloria. “What’ve you got?”
The Enchantress pointed at the wall. “He’s taunting us now.” Neatly printed on the brick façade in fresh blood was the sentence “Who am I?”. The lettering was precise and neat.
Cooper’s impression was it almost looked like the words had been put on with a stencil and a roller. “Well, whoever did this gets full marks for penmanship.” Seraphina snickered loudly as did a couple of the uniformed officers.
Gloria just scowled. “I think it was done with some kind of spell.”
“You’re an Enchantress and you think?”
Her scowl deepened. “I can’t detect any magic from it. There should be some faint magic from a spell of this type.”
“Are there ways to hide magical traces?”
She nodded sourly. “Yes, but it’s pretty sophisticated. Only a mistress of magic could pull it off successfully.”
Seraphina cleared her throat loudly. “Do you remember Joan?”
Gloria frowned. “What about her?”
“Remember that anklet she used? The one you detested?”
The Enchantress blinked. “Son of a bitch, you’re right.” She turned to Cooper. “Uh, I’m sorry about the cursing. Sera was reminding me that someone we knew wore an anklet that made her non-detectible. She had no scent and left no magical traces behind her. That would explain a lot here.”
“Could something like that be used to keep the killer from leaving behind any DNA or fingerprints?”
Gloria’s eyes glowed softly as she considered the question. Finally she nodded. “It’s pretty complicated but if the item enchanted was a pair of gloves it would use symbolism of the gloves as objects containing everything inside them and would therefore make the enchantments a lot easier and more powerful for the same cost. Of course the gloves themselves would stop fingerprints from being left.”
“So we have a possible method for the killer to employ the forensic countermeasures that doesn’t require extensive knowledge of our techniques or a team of people to clean up.” He sighed. “That just opened up the potential pool of suspects.”
“Sir,” Seraphina asked respectfully, “how could the pool get any larger than everybody?” She grinned when he gave her an annoyed look. “And what you’ve done is give us something to look for when we do have a decent suspect. If we turn up a nullifier in our search of their property, that’s very strong evidence.”
“I hope you’re right.” He looked around. “Does Seraphina really need to be guarding me?”
“No she doesn’t.” Gloria looked around. “Cooper, you do the recordings of the area and tell Laney that she can have the body when you’re done. Pay particular attention to the wall with the message on it. Brownie, circulate and collect all the reports from the uniforms. I’ll get authorization to search Mona’s house and see there’s anything there that can give us any leads.” She pulled her com out of her pocket. “Don’t forget that you made me the junior detective in the department so we’re working tomorrow.” She smiled warmly. “I’m not complaining, by the way, just letting you know.”
***
William Cooper
Gloria - Enchantress
Seraphina – Rapitaur