Chapter Twenty-Six

Other than the bartender, Lukas was the only person left in the DeVane bar. I marched up to him, my arms swinging, grim determination propelling me forward.

‘D'Artagnan. From the look on your face, you've found what you were looking for,' he murmured.

I raised my chin. ‘I have.' My voice hardened. ‘Butch Cassidy.'

‘I'm pretty sure he died over a hundred years ago. I don't think he ever came to London, either.'

‘Not that one.' I told him what Anna had revealed, together with my discovery of the sandwich.

He rubbed his chin. ‘So Brown visited the sandwich shop to speak to this Butch Cassidy. When you went outside, he deliberately aroused her suspicions. He wanted to see if he could goad her into giving him a spiked sandwich.'

‘That's what I think. She wanted to weaken Anna because the only way she could take Anna's rank from her is to openly challenge her during the full moon. She wouldn't beat Anna in a fair fight, so she thought she'd even up the odds. But she took it too far when she tested Anna in the park. Cassidy probably only wanted to check that the poison was doing its job. Unfortunately for everyone, the attack made Anna go to Tony, which then led Tony back to Cassidy. Deliberately or otherwise, he asked one too many questions and got himself a poisoned sandwich in return.'

‘She broke into Brown's flat to kill him and retrieve the sandwich.'

‘But he'd already gone to the DeVane Hotel with the sandwich. Maybe he meant to drop it off for testing afterwards, or maybe he had an inkling that Cassidy would go after him. Either way, she knew she'd been found out and she tracked him down to the DeVane. She injected him with the same poison she'd used in the sandwich and killed him. She wanted to avoid any further scrutiny, so she made his death look like auto-erotic asphyxiation.'

Lukas frowned. ‘But before she did that, she dealt with you. She'd noted you in the store, and was worried that you knew what Brown did. She saw you running after Becca as well, and was concerned about Becca's involvement. Cassidy panicked and tried to cover her tracks. She wanted to make every death look different to avoid anyone connecting the dots. Becca suicide. Brown misadventure. You—'

‘Murder,' I filled in flatly. ‘And all because she wanted a leg up the werewolf ladder.'

Lukas's black eyes glittered. ‘If you hadn't risen again, she might have gotten away with it.'

I shook my head. ‘No. She's sloppy. She's made too many mistakes. Even the real Butch Cassidy got his comeuppance in the end.'

He smiled nastily. ‘Let's make sure the same thing happens to this one.'

‘Should we tell Lady Sullivan first?'

‘She's not proved very adept at dealing with her werewolves thus far. We can take it from here, don't you think? At least until we get the confirmation of Cassidy's guilt.' He drew an inch closer. ‘I always thought that three musketeers was over-kill. Two will more than suffice.' He raised a questioning eyebrow at me.

That kind of approach went against everything I'd trained for and every police regulation I'd come across. But I wasn't with the regular police; I was in Supe Squad. I grinned in response.

Lukas's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. ‘Good.' He pointed at my arm. I'd wound a fresh towel round it so no blood was actually visible, but it was next to impossible to fool a vampire when it came to the hot, red, sticky stuff. ‘Show me,' he commanded.

I sighed and carefully unwrapped the towel, wincing as it peeled away from the wound.

He examined it, frowning at the obvious bite marks. ‘A werewolf bite is no laughing matter.'

‘What?' I said lightly. ‘Do you think I'm about to turn furry?'

‘It would be the first time that happened as a result of a single bite.' He glanced up. ‘You ought to take care that it doesn't happen again though. When we finally track down Cassidy, let me deal with her. Two bites in one day might cause problems. If you receive three – well,' he shrugged, ‘it's a certainty.'

I blinked. ‘It's that easy?'

‘There's nothing easy about becoming a werewolf.' He clicked his tongue and lowered his head.

‘Uh, Lukas?' I asked nervously. ‘What exactly are you doing?'

‘Relax,' he muttered. ‘I'm not drinking your blood. I'll be careful.'

I hissed, feeling the edge of his sharps fangs brush against my skin. Then his tongue darted out and, with the delicacy of a cat, he licked around the edges of the wound. I stared at his dark head. ‘I'm not comfortable…'

He glanced at me and pointed. I looked down. Instead of seeping blood, my skin had knit together. I gaped.

‘Vampire saliva possesses many healing qualities' he said. ‘Shall I continue, or would you like me to stop?'

‘No,' I croaked. ‘Keep going.'

He smiled and dipped his head once more. It was the strangest sensation, slightly itchy but also pleasantly warming. ‘That's amazing,' I said, when he'd covered the entire area.

‘The wonders of evolution,' Lukas murmured. ‘After all, it would hardly do for humans to stumble out of Soho with blood spraying out of vampire-inflicted puncture wounds.' He offered me a crooked grin. ‘We can't do much about serious injuries, but flesh wounds like this are a piece of cake.' He licked his lips. ‘They're usually quite tasty, too.'

I recoiled. ‘Ew.' Then I thought of something and peered at him. ‘Do I … do I taste different? From other humans, I mean?'

He paused. ‘Yes.' He looked me in the eye. ‘Your blood has a strange quality. There's an underlying taste I've never experienced before. Like,' he frowned, ‘sulphur. Truthfully, it's not all that pleasant.'

I thought back to the smell in the small room at the morgue after I'd woken up. That had been similar to sulphur. I turned away. ‘So I'm not human after all,' I whispered.

‘It doesn't seem like it.' Lukas caught my wrist. ‘Emma, it would be wise to keep that to yourself. We don't know what kind of supe you are. People tend to be afraid of unknown quantities, and you're beginning to grow on me. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt.'

‘Yes,' I said with only the faintest hint of sarcasm. ‘After all, we must maintain the illusion of Supe Squad, and preserve the vamps' and wolves' status quo.' I pulled my wrist away and ignored his expression. ‘Come on. Let's catch ourselves a werewolf.'

***

The little sandwich shop was cloaked in darkness. I peered through the window and saw little more than shadows and the glowing green of the emergency exit sign. Lukas walked a few steps back and angled his head upwards, checking the floors above.

‘It appears that there's a flat above the shop,' he said in a low voice. ‘The curtains are closed, so it's likely that someone is there even though there's no light. Most werewolves don't tend to sleep well just before a full moon. We'll have to be quiet if we don't want to alert her to our presence before we break down her door.'

I glanced at him. ‘Break down her door?'

‘She's a wolf. As much as you might want to knock politely and walk her out in handcuffs, she doesn't come under human law. The best we can do is restrain her, extract a confession and hand her over to Clan Sullivan to deal with.'

‘She killed Tony.' I folded my arms. ‘She killed me.'

‘Even more reason to proceed very carefully indeed,' Lukas returned.

‘She deserves to feel the full weight of the law.'

‘She will.' He glanced at me. ‘But it will be werewolf law. If you want to back off now and let me—'

I interrupted him. ‘No.' That was most definitely not an option. I wanted to look Butch Cassidy in the eye when she was brought to account. ‘There must be another entrance round the back that leads to the flat. Let's try there first.'

Lukas inclined his head. ‘As you wish.'

As the building was part of a terraced row, we skirted to the end of the street before doubling back. The rear of the property boasted a small garden, which was fenced off from passers-by. There weren't any more signs of life at the back than there had been at the front.

With my heart in my mouth, I reached round to unfasten the latch on the gate, wincing when it creaked open. Then Lukas and I sneaked in and headed for the back door.

There was only one button, positioned directly under the small intercom box. That was good; it meant that, assuming Cassidy did indeed live above the shop, hers was the only flat. The last thing we needed was to deal with a group of irate, sleep-deprived werewolves on the cusp of the full moon.

I sucked on my bottom lip and considered. We could break down the door as Lukas had suggested, but I was certain there was another way. I looked around and spotted an upturned plant pot by the side of the path. I scooped it up, holding it triumphantly in Lukas's direction.

‘Nice work,' he said, seeing the key taped to the inside of the pot. ‘But given your status as only an almost detective, why don't I do the necessary?'

I shrugged and passed it to him. He placed the key gently in the lock and turned it. There was a quiet click. He shot me a grin and pushed open the door. We were in.

Stairs led directly upwards. There was only one door on the ground floor, which presumably led into the shop. With his tread as silent as that of his shadow, Lukas inched up the steps. I followed at his heels. I was beginning to see why the recidivism rate for burglary was so high; there was something remarkably thrilling about sneaking into someone else's property.

Lukas paused at the top of the stairs. He cocked his head, listening hard. ‘No-one's home,' he said, no longer attempting to stay quiet.

‘Are you sure?' I whispered, unwilling to give up hope.

He raised his foot and kicked open the inner door. The sound was deafening as the wooden door split and then thudded against the wall. I tensed – but Lukas had been right. Nobody sprang forward to meet us. The place was empty.

I cursed and pushed past him to get a better look. ‘Maybe this isn't her flat,' I said.

He picked up a photo frame from a side table and held it up. I squinted at it. ‘Is this her?' he asked.

‘Yes.' I grimaced. If Cassidy wasn't here, then where the hell was she? Perhaps she'd left a helpful clue. I wasn't defeated yet, not by a long shot.

Leaving the lights off so that we didn't alert a passer-by to our presence, I scoured the flat. It was very tidy – in fact, compulsively so. I trailed a finger along the bookshelf and glanced at the titles, then rummaged through the wastepaper basket for any useful notes or receipts that she might have discarded. I even lifted the sofa cushions in the vain hope that something might be wedged down the back. There was nothing.

‘D'Artagnan,' Lukas called from the kitchen. ‘Come and take a look at this.'

I gave up my search and joined him. ‘What is it? What have you found?'

He held up a small vial of liquid. ‘Check this out,' he said grimly. He pointed to an open cupboard. ‘She's been stockpiling it.'

I took the little bottle from him and read the label. ‘Xylazine.' I frowned. ‘This must be what she used to poison the sandwich meat and to inject into Tony and probably Becca. It says it's for animal use only.'

Lukas's jaw was set into a tense line. ‘We've got the proof. Now we need the wolf.'

I pursed my lips. ‘This is her home and her place of work. It's her safe place. There's no reason for Cassidy to have gone anywhere else.'

‘It's almost the full moon. She might be out enjoying herself.'

‘Except all the werewolf haunts were shutting up early. It's only a couple of hours until dawn. None of them will be open now. She doesn't strike me as the type who'd slink over to Soho and hang around your vamp places.'

‘No,' he agreed. ‘But she doesn't seem the type who has friends or family to meet up with either. So where has she gone?'

I gazed at the rows of xylazine bottles. ‘She's very well prepared,' I murmured. ‘She's got enough stock to last her into next century.'

‘And she's quite methodical,' Lukas mused. ‘Think about all the trouble she went to in order to hide her visit to Brown's flat, and to make both his and Becca's deaths appear anything but murder. Not to mention using enough poison to weaken Anna but not kill her. If she'd died before the full moon, there would have been no challenge for Cassidy to answer. Cassidy had to ensure Anna remained alive.' He checked his watch. ‘There's only another twelve hours before the sun sets again and the werewolves converge for the change. Our girl isn't out partying. She's preparing.'

Of course. ‘She's in St James's Park,' I breathed. ‘Checking the lay of the land, calculating possible entry points, doing everything she can to make sure that she doesn't miss Anna and doesn't screw up the challenge.'

‘The sensible thing would be to wait here until she returns,' Lukas said.

I was already heading for the door. ‘She might not come back until she's taken care of business. Besides,' I threw out over my shoulder, ‘I'm done with being sensible. This is for Tony and for Becca and for Anna – and for me.' Butch Cassidy wasn't going to get away. Not this time.