29

Zacharia had interrogated the lab assistant, the two women from cardiac surgery and Miranda Vohn, the head nurse, right after Elisanda Grace had told him about the chambermaid’s body she had discovered.

The lab assistant, Cony Smith, a New Generation vampire, was one of those men who would sweat just from talking to a stranger. When that stranger was Zacharia, the sweating turned to blushing, shaking and stuttering. He was a loner, reclusive and taciturn. After all, the vampire kind of matched the profile of a sociopath who could kill Mary Clare for any reason.

The two women from the cardiac care unit had claimed one of the orthopaedic surgeons in the other wing had invited them over for coffee.

Zacharia knew Miranda Vohn well, but that hadn’t stopped him from verifying her story – that she’d been there to talk to the lab assistant about the growing number of complaints concerning him.

“They say he’s a weirdo, Zacharia,” Miranda had explained, throwing on her elegant white coat.

Zacharia had caught her right before her night tour around the Hospital. She wore her black hair in a long ponytail and her giant cat-eye glasses rarely left her nose. She’d told him once that although the ageing processes hadn’t affected her appearance, her vision had drastically worsened after 1744.

“Do you think Smith is capable of killing Mary Clare?” Zacharia had asked.

“I don’t know…” Miranda had taken a moment to think. “Maybe, maybe not. Honestly, I feel bad for him. The others avoid him. Sometimes a creature just needs a helping hand.”

“What’s so weird about him?”

Aside from his hunched shoulders, the drops of sweat on his forehead and above his upper lip, and the hair slicked to one side, Zacharia hadn’t seen anything all too disturbing in the man.

Miranda had smiled with bitterness. “Well, the women claim he stares at them. And that he steals their stuff. Scarves, gloves, lipstick… One of the surgeons said his briefs are missing.”

Her words soon had Zacharia ready to bet the assistant had killed Mary Clare. Then Mikhail told him about the man with the mohawk haircut. And despite Elisanda Grace not having mentioned this man before, it was worth investigating.

One might think it would be child’s play to find a creature with that hairstyle in a confined space like the Hospital. But as it turned out, the idiotic trendy style was widespread not just among humans, but among immortals as well. Zacharia had tracked down eight mohawks and neither one appeared connected to Mary Clare, at least not at first glance.

Then Zacharia received a surprising phone call.

“I’ve got someone with me who wants to tell you something.” It was the ever-confident voice of the head housekeeper Stella on the line.

“Where?”

“Laundry room.”

Zacharia had planned on digging around Mary Clare’s friends and questioning them before the Tribunal agents arrived.

“Can it wait? I’m very busy,” he told Stella.

“It’s the murdered chambermaid’s roommate. She thinks she has important information.”

A plan started forming in Zacharia’s head. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

He asked Miranda to call over the lab assistant Cony Smith for an emergency and keep him occupied for an hour or so. When the witcher left his lair, Zacharia broke in. In less than thirty seconds, he spotted the giant plastic bag under the bed, stuffed with lingerie, socks, make-up, hair bands and all kinds of paraphernalia that Cony had, in fact, stolen.

What do you know… Miranda was right.

Zacharia headed to the laundry room, carrying the plastic bag over his shoulder.

Stella was a vampire who had reached her immortality later than usual, in her mid-fifties. This, along with the fifteen or so years that she had visibly aged since 1744, gave her a maternal appearance that could easily win people over. The wrinkles around her brown eyes and the corners of her mouth accentuated her authority.

He found Stella, with her perfect posture and immaculately ironed uniform, towering over a young woman in a chair, holding her hand. “This is Dara. One of my girls. She worked with Mary and was her roommate,” Stella said.

Dara, who was also wearing a uniform, gave Zacharia a suspicious once-over. She was willowy, with a sharp nose and brown hair tied in a neat bun. Her gaze was red and puffy, her cheeks moist with tears.

“Roommates?” Zacharia pulled a chair and sat opposite her, leaving the bag on the ground.

Her voice trembled. “Mary and I have been sharing a room for five years.”

“Were you two close?”

“Yes.” Dara stared at her ordinary black shoes. “When I came here, I didn’t know anybody. Mary helped me fit in. We were like sisters. But she was acting weird lately.”

“What do you mean?”

The woman faced him. “Well, she… she was hiding something.”

“Don’t be afraid, darling. Tell him everything you told me,” Stella encouraged.

Dara’s eyes filled with wariness. Of course, she recognised him. Everybody in the Hospital did – his appearance anywhere on the grounds promised nothing more than trouble for the visited. “Sir…”

“Call me Zacharia,” he said in a friendly voice. Intimidating her was the last thing he wanted. For now.

She hesitated for a moment. “We may be regular chambermaids, but we follow the rules. We don’t steal. We work hard for our livelihood. We may not earn a lot but we’re happy with what we have.” A hint of pride marked her tone. “Except in recent times… Mary was acting strange. She kept murmuring about how she’s tired of this job and how she wanted more, and had her ways of getting it.”

“More?”

“Money,” she whispered.

“Did she tell you what those ways were?”

Dara shook her head. “I don’t know, but she was very secretive. She didn’t come to our room for hours sometimes, long after her shift ended. She was always out somewhere.”

“Anything else?”

Dara glanced up at Stella, searching for support. The woman nodded.

The chambermaid gave a long sigh. “Mary was receiving phone calls. From a hidden number. When I asked her who it was, she said it was an old friend.”

“But you didn’t believe that?” Zacharia prompted.

“No. Nobody locks themselves in the bathroom when they’re talking to an old friend. And a lot of times, she would rush out after their conversations. She always said it was for work, but sometimes she didn’t even put on her uniform.”

Zacharia leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Did Mary have a boyfriend?”

“Oh, no! She was very picky. She couldn’t find a man who ticked all her boxes. And she was way too busy for love.” Dara smiled a little at that.

“I see. Did anyone with greasy hair, a sweaty forehead and a tendency to stutter hang around her recently? Works in the lab,” Zacharia asked.

Dara blinked. “No. I don’t recall anyone like that.”

Zacharia pulled the bag he’d snatched from the lab assistant’s room and untied it in front of Dara. “Would you do me a favour and check if any of these belonged to Mary?”

Dara threw a questioning glance at Stella.

“It’s okay, dear,” the housekeeper assured her.

Dara dug into the pile. It was filled predominantly with female underwear, but there were also the occasional male boxers and a toothbrush. “I can’t be completely sure, but I don’t think I’ve seen any of these in our room.”

Zacharia waited, giving her another moment.

She rifled through the items some more, then shrugged. “Most of these things, I’m almost certain I’ve never seen before. But some things – like these black panties… Whether they’re Mary’s or not, I can’t know for sure. All I can say is I don’t think I’ve seen any of these in her laundry.”

Zacharia figured she was right. “Okay, Dara… Has Mary ever mentioned a tall, skinny man with a mohawk? Short hair on the sides, long at the top?”

“Of course!” Her eyes lit up. “That’s our best friend, Daniel.”

“And what does Daniel do in the Hospital?”

“Nothing permanent.” She waved her hand. “He helps where help is needed. Today, he could be a nurse; tomorrow, a chauffeur.”

“I see. Has he ever been intimate with Mary?”

An indecipherable emotion twisted Dara’s features for a brief second. “Mary and Daniel? Of course not. They were just friends… Like me and him.”

Zacharia inspected her thoroughly, and she fidgeted and avoided eye contact under his intense stare. Then he asked in a casual voice, “Tell me, Dara… Do you think Daniel could have killed Mary?”

She gave a slow headshake, mouth dropping slightly open in disbelief. “Never! Never, absolutely never ever would he do such a thing!”

“Even if he discovered where Mary keeps her secret money stash and decided to get rid of her, take it and scram?”

“He’s our friend! He would never do that.”

“All right… Then why can’t I find him anywhere since Mary’s murder?” Dara blinked a few times, as if she wasn’t aware of Daniel’s disappearance, either. “Have you seen him since the murder?”

“No, but… He must be somewhere. Working.”

“What’s he working as right now?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Zacharia stood. “Okay, Dara. If you remember anything else or your friend Daniel contacts you, please call me.” The second he turned away, Dara burst into tears.

In the end, Zacharia thought it would be very unkind to the lab assistant to deprive him of his meticulously acquired treasure before he was officially proven guilty. So, after making sure the room was still empty, he put the bag of stolen stuff back where he’d found it.

Then Zacharia dialled Miranda. “I’ve been wondering about something,” he said when she answered.

“What, Zacharia?”

“Scarves, lipstick, bracelets – I get. But how the hell does this dude manage to steal underwear?”

Miranda laughed. “You know, I’ve been wondering the same thing. After all, this is not something you just take off wherever. According to some, he lurks in the common bathrooms. Others think he can cast spells for taking off underwear.”

“Hmm. This is getting more and more interesting…”

“Honestly, I’ve decided to dismiss him. I don’t believe he really steals underwear, but he’s disturbing the rest of the staff with his behaviour,” Miranda said.

“Let him stay until I finish the investigation, all right? Imagine he’s the killer. We don’t want to enrage him further and have him murdering creatures left and right. The Tribunal’s questioning will be stressful enough.”

“Which reminds me, an agent came to see me today.”

“Already?” Zacharia winced.

“Yes… Let’s say they don’t have any issue with invading your personal space.”

He nodded, though she couldn’t see him. He needed to track down Mary and Dara’s friend before the Tribunal did, if he wanted him in good shape for questioning.

Lucky for Zacharia, a few hours later, he found him in the city with a bag full of cash, spare clothes, a fake human passport, and a one-way ticket to London. His name was indeed Daniel, and he was a British witcher who’d lived at the Hospital for the last fifteen years. The recent turn of events didn’t cast him – or his actions – in a good light.

He peed his pants the moment Zacharia showed up, and when he realised his trip to London was cancelled, he fainted, which further added to the aforementioned not-so-good light.

Zacharia hauled him to his SUV and returned him to an improvised questioning room on the second floor of the Hospital.

“I didn’t kill Mary!” Daniel yelled as soon as he regained consciousness in the only chair around.

“Then why are you running?” Zacharia asked.

“I didn’t run!”

“Passport, cash, plane ticket… Just a day after your friend’s death?”

“I know how it looks.” Daniel frowned. “But you don’t get it – I saw this coming!”

Zacharia observed his hair. The witcher must have sensed the disapproval in his gaze because he ran a nervous hand through his quiff.

“It’s always the boyfriend, right!?” He pointed a finger at himself. “I sensed I’d be your main suspect!”

“You and Mary had a romantic relationship?” Zacharia asked, masking his surprise. The roommate had been adamant there was no intimate connection between them.

“Of course! We loved each other! We were going to run away together!” A few tears streamed down his cheeks. To Zacharia, they seemed genuine, but what did he know?

“Were you in the East Wing on the fifth floor at the time of Mary’s murder?”

Daniel didn’t answer.

“Were you?”

The witcher raised his palms. “Mate, I know how it looks, but you’ve got to believe me when I s—”

“I asked if you were there?”

Daniel sighed. “Yes. But only because someone called me over to fix a door that had fallen off its hinges. I couldn’t even find it, so I didn’t fix squat. I think they did it on purpose to frame me…”

“So, you’re a handyman now, too?” Zacharia crossed his arms over his chest. “When did you get the call?”

“I don’t know. Maybe around five, or half past in the afternoon.”

The vampire had been killed an hour later.

“Who was on the phone?”

“Don’t know. A hidden number. I didn’t recognise the voice. I thought at the time it was someone working on the floor.”

“Right. And what’s your relationship with Mary’s roommate, Dara?”

The witcher replied without hesitation. “Mary introduced us. We’re not that close. Sometimes…” His eyes darted across the room as if to make sure he wasn’t overheard. “Sometimes I feel like she’s in love with me.”

Zacharia raised his eyebrows. “She said you two are close.”

Daniel huffed. “We’ve never been close. I’m telling you, mate, she was jealous of our relationship. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one who killed Mary!”

He seemed desperate to lay the blame on someone else. Question was, was he doing it to save his own ass or someone else’s?

Zacharia smiled. “Danny, you’re a witcher. You know anything about portals?”

He nodded, visibly relieved by the change of subject. “Of course. I know all about them.”

“Open one lately?”

Daniel’s mouth gaped open and he held a palm up. “God forbid! No! Never in my life!”

“Why? I’ve heard that you can go anywhere with a portal. Carry anything with you…”

“Yeah, but the price is so high, and you’ll be paying it off over five lifetimes!”

“So, you wouldn’t dare?”

The witcher shook his head. “No. And even if I wanted to, I can’t open portals. It’s a special and very rare gift.”

“Have you heard Mary talk about the money she was making on the side?”

“Oh, yeah. She did make some more the past few weeks,” Daniel responded in a hostile tone.

“How?”

The witcher crossed his arms. “Why don’t you go and ask your boss?”

His retort sparked Zacharia’s curiosity but he schooled his expression to remain neutral. “And what exactly do you suggest I ask him?”

“Mary was working for that manticore.”

“Everyone in this hospital works for him.” Zacharia’s enthusiasm died down as he realised he wasn’t learning anything new.

The witcher raised his chin. “I’m not talking about her job as a chambermaid. It was something else. A ‘secret’. She didn’t want to tell me what it was, but it had something to do with a human.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

The witcher threw a haughty glance at Zacharia, seemingly forgetting all about the fear he’d been feeling at first. “No. May I go now?”

“No,” Zacharia said and headed for the door.

Daniel leapt to his feet. “You can’t keep me here! I haven’t done anything!” He raised his fists. “There has to be an investigation. You’re not the Tribunal!”

Zacharia turned to him. “That’s right, I’m not the Tribunal, so I don’t need an investigation.”

“I demand you release me this second!” Daniel pointed his index finger at the hybrid. “Or I promise you, I’ll ring up the Tribunal and you’ll be the one on trial for keeping me here against my will!”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Zacharia made for the door again.

“YOU BASTARD!” Daniel darted towards him, his quiff swaying in sync with his steps. “You don’t think I can crush—”

Zacharia’s fist interrupted his tirade.

***

Mikhail entered the room where Dara was already waiting, her face a living embodiment of grief.

This had been Mary and Dara’s space – four walls with two beds, a desk with two chairs and a bathroom. All clean and neat. One of the beds was too neat. Probably Mary’s.

Dara occupied a chair and curled into herself under his scrutinising gaze. The manticore forced himself to appear less threatening as he sat opposite her. The rugged desk between them gave the woman some space which, Mikhail was hoping, would help her relax.

“Let’s talk frankly,” he said.

A glint of fear ran through her eyes. “I already told the other one everything I know.”

“I would like to know more about your relationship with Daniel.”

“We were friends.”

Mikhail cut straight to the chase. “Interestingly enough, he said you weren’t close at all.” She stared at him, wide-eyed. “Moreover, he claims that Mary and he were in a relationship and you were in love with him.”

Dara’s face seemed to age five years in a heartbeat.

“It wasn’t easy watching the man you love be with Mary, so you decided to get rid of her,” Mikhail continued without a trace of empathy. “And to us, you tried to sell that ludicrous story about Mary’s secret job.”

“It’s not true…” Dara whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.

“But you didn’t plan on Daniel running away right after Mary’s death.”

“I didn’t plan anything!” She hid her face between her palms and cried louder, causing her petite body to tremble.

Mikhail just sat there, watching her agony. There goes the don’t-be-so-tough-with-the-girl plan.

“Let’s start from the beginning,” he said after a while. “I want the truth.”

Dara lifted her head, and the sorrow written all over her face was unmistakable. “I’ve been in love with Daniel ever since I met him,” she spoke in a surprisingly steady voice. “At first, he was clearly attracted to Mary and I think she also liked him, although she never admitted it. The three of us were always together, as friends, but Daniel and Mary would find excuses to be near each other, to touch… I convinced myself it was nothing, that they were just friends and I still had a chance to have him fall in love with me… One day, I discovered that they had been together for a while but were hiding it.” Dara’s features twisted with resentment.

“Why were they hiding?”

Her shoulders sank in capitulation. “I don’t know. I guess he wanted it that way. But Mary… She was head over heels for him, I could see it. But then Daniel’s behaviour changed.” Dara glanced to the side, as if reliving something in her head. “He…” She paused. “He suddenly would notice me. As a woman. We started hooking up behind Mary’s back.” Her eyes met Mikhail’s and he read the truth in them even before she admitted it. “I was in love with him!” Guilt contorted her features.

Mikhail feigned understanding. “Why didn’t you tell us all this from the beginning?”

“I’m sorry for Mary, believe me, but I was finally seeing a way to be with Daniel, for real, and not just behind someone’s back. I knew that if I told you about his relationship with Mary, you’d chase after him and I didn’t want to cause him trouble. Nobody knew about their relationship anyway.”

“And you never thought, even for a second, that Daniel could have killed Mary?”

“No. He’s not a murderer.”

“But you didn’t think he’d disappear, either?”

“I was hoping he would come to me…” she whispered.

Mikhail stood, unsure if the information he had just received was useful. This story seemed to tighten up, adding more players and more questions in the game, each one leading to yet another dead end.

Zacharia was waiting for him, leaning against the hallway wall and playing a game on his phone.

“Lock them up together somewhere for now. I believe they have issues to discuss,” Mikhail instructed. “Let the Tribunal think they escaped. When that happens, the agents will believe they’re guilty. Then I’ll announce it to the Council.”

Zacharia lifted his blue eyes from the screen. “Why did we call the Tribunal in the first place, if we’re giving them red herrings?”

“We had to. News of the chambermaid’s murder was already spreading. I couldn’t hide Kaliope’s death for much longer, either. Her absence from the Council would not have remained unnoticed. As I said, I’m hoping the Tribunal’s presence disconcerts the culprit and forces him to make a mistake.”

“The culprit? I thought the witch’s head was delivered by that vampire’s brother. The one who showed up in Italy?”

“I’m beginning to suspect that he had inside help. Somebody well acquainted with the Hospital, the Council, the schedule of the staff…”

“You know who?”

“I know it’s not Dara and her lover boy. But there’s something I still can’t work out. What was that secret job that would make Mary Clare rich?”

Zacharia scored a point in his game. “Daniel said I should ask you. He obviously figured out it was related to Mary chambermaiding a human.”

“Exactly,” Mikhail said. “Which makes even less sense. I’m aware how much I pay my staff and I’m certain nobody can expect to get rich from it…”