Snakes and Sin chapter 1

A murder, a secret past, a vampire detective...

“So how are the kids?” Edmund asked, walking swiftly to keep up with the police detective. God, that woman was tall. Edmund himself was a bit on the large side, at five foot ten. Grace was a full six inches taller, and most of that seemed to be leg. Edmund lengthened his stride.

“Doing great,” Detective Hanson replied. “Lisa just started second grade, and Donald’s in third. I’m coaching their softball team.” She smiled. “Lisa just got her first home run.”

They crossed the yellow tape. The cop guarding the perimeter started toward them. Then he recognized Grace, and waved them on.

The dock cordoned off by the tape was a busy anthill of activity. In the dark, that made staying on the planks difficult. A tech brushed by Edmund, carrying a camera, and almost knocked him into the water. The woman apologized and moved on.

“So which boat-” Edmund began, and then he saw it. The body was on the deck of the boat, in a pool of blood. Its intestines were trailing out of its stomach. They spelled out a word. SIN.

Grace handed him a pair of gloves. “We think the word refers to the lifestyle of the deceased. You’ll probably recognize her. She’s been in the tabloids a lot.” The two stepped carefully over the sides onto the boat.

Edmund leaned over the dimly lit body, and then froze in shock. He did recognize the dead woman, but not from the tabloids. His past, long buried, rose up in his mind. Amelie…

Grace misinterpreted his silence. “She’s Amelie Davinson. Socialite and party girl. Been arrested a few times for possession and drunk driving. Her father’s Silas Davinson.”

Edmund remembered nights spent in her treehouse, telling ghost stories until they were both too scared to sleep. They’d made cookies together. They’d played video games together. They’d gone to the same private school. The first time he’d gotten drunk, he’d been with Amelie. They’d gotten in so much trouble afterwards.

“You know, Silas Davinson. The billionaire. Made his fortune with computers.” Grace shook her head. “You need to get out more.”

Edmund shook his head. “Sorry. Was getting a feel for the spells in the area.”

“What do they do?” Grace wanted to know. “I couldn’t figure it out.”

“I’ll need another look,” Edmund said, and squinted, bringing the lines of power into focus. There was a tangle of red threads, a spell, over Amelie. No, not Amelie. The body. Best to think of it as the body. Keep some distance. He focused on the red lines, and they resolved into a pattern. Edmund let his magical sight fade.

Edmund looked to see if anyone was in earshot before telling Grace what he’d seen. “There’s two spells, right on top of eachother. Not even spells, really. Remnants. Leftovers. I’m not surprised you couldn’t make it out.”

“What do they do?” Grace demanded in a whisper.

“One’s a death spell,” Edmund murmured. “It sliced her up, from a distance. The other is a telekinesis charm. That was what moved her intestines into position. You won’t find any physical evidence here. The killer was never on the boat. He stood a little ways up the dock.” Edmund pointed to a spot.

Grace looked. The planks the killer had stood on were covered in muddy police footprints. She sighed. “So that’s a dead end. I suppose I still owe you a favor, though, don’t I?”

“Yes. And I’m calling it in now. I want in on this case,” Edmund said.

Grace groaned. “And how am I supposed to do that? The chief won’t hire you. Not after that thing with the zombies.”

“It wasn’t my fault the necromancer crumbled to dust when we took his power,” Edmund said. “And how were you going to bring him to trial? The only thing you could tie him to directly was grave robbing. His zombies were doing the killing.”

Grace sighed. “Be that as it may, the chief needs time to cool off before we use you as a consultant again.”

“Then convince the father to hire me,” Edmund said.

“How?” Grace demanded.

Edmund shrugged. “You’ll figure something out.”

*

Cassie nibbed on her lip when she wanted to focus. It was a bad habit, but she couldn’t seem to stop, and, anyways, it seemed to help. Carefully, she severed the last connection and removed the chip from the phone.

There was a knock at the door. Cassie sighed and spun her chair away from her desk. She needed a break anyways. “Coming,” she called, and headed for the door.

It was Edmund. Of course it was Edmund. Who else had any reason to visit her? Well, her landlord, maybe, but she wasn’t behind on the rent, and she didn’t need anything repaired, so he had no real reason to drop by. “Come in,” Cassie said, stepping aside to let him into the apartment. “I just finished removing the security chip on that dirty cop’s phone. I should be able to hook it up to something that will-” She bit her lip. It was better to give Edmund simple explanations when it came to technology. “Well, basically, this piece of hardware will try passwords until it finds the right one.”

Edmund nodded, and passed her a sheet of paper. “Here’s a list of things you might want to try first. Pet names, important dates, and so on.” He snorted. “The password will probably be some combination of those. People are predictable like that.

Cassie nodded, and stuck the paper in her pocket. “That’s not why you’re here, though, is it?”

Edmund nodded. “Correct. We’ll make an investigator out of you yet.” He grinned, but it seemed strained. He appeared to be a bit tense.

Cassie frowned. “What’s wrong? Did you and Grace have another argument about the whole necromancer thing?”

Edmund shook his head. “No. Nothing like that. I’m just…” He sighed. “The crime scene was a bit messy, is all.”

Cassie frowned. She hadn’t been Edmund’s partner in the private investigation business for long, but she’d been through a few messy cases with him. The zombie murders, in particular, had been quite gruesome. He’d never reacted before. She considered calling bullshit, but decided to drop it. “So, do we have a new case?”

Edmund shook his head. “Not exactly. The chief is still refusing to hire us. However…” He frowned. “Let’s just say I have a hunch about this one.”

Cassie raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you the one who always says, no cash, no case? I mean, we’ve both got to pay the rent.” It wasn’t cheap in this part of town.

Edmund shrugged. “We might be able to get the victim’s father to hire us. By all accounts, he’s pretty loaded.”

“Who was the victim?” Cassie wanted to know.

“Amelie Davinson,” Edmund told her. “She’s-”

“Amelie Davinson?” Cassie interrupted. “The Amelie Davinson? Her father is a lot more than loaded, Edmund. He can afford someone higher profile than us.”

Edmund shrugged. “Still. I’d like you to perform a cursory examination of the victim’s online presence. Find her close acquaintances, see if she had any particular vices. That kind of thing.”

Cassie nodded. “I can do that. I can also give you a bit of info now, if you like.”

Edmund blinked. “You’ve already got information on her?”

Cassie shrugged. “If you read the tabloids at all, you’d know this stuff too.” She took a deep breath. “For starters, I’m sure you are aware that her father is Silas Davinson, the CEO of the social media site Anyone. He’s rich. Very rich. She’s his only child, and her mother is dead. I don’t think they have any other close family? She’s got a trust fund, of course, and, by all accounts, she loves to spend it. She also loves to drink, and, according to the tabloids, has a cocaine problem, too. She’s been arrested a few times, but they’ve never been able to make anything stick.” Cassie shrugged. “And I guess they never will.”

“She also regularly does embarrassing stuff while drunk or high. I remember reading about how she stripped at a party and passed out in the fountain naked?” Cassie frowned, trying to remember more. “I think her father has a brother, who helped him start the company? I remember reading about the brother and his wife dying, but I don’t remember when. It was a long time ago, so it probably doesn’t have any bearing on this case.” Shrugging again, she finished lamely with, “And that’s all I know. I’ll find more.”

Edmund nodded. “That’s a good start. I wouldn’t go back any further than five years in your research. Based on… Certain aspects of the crime scene, we can assume this was related to the deceased’s hedonistic lifestyle.”

“Certain aspects?” asked Cassie.

Edmund nodded. “The killer used Amelie Davinson’s intestines to spell the word ‘Sin.’ Look for religious fanatics who are pissed off at her.”

Cassie nodded. “I’ll do that. I’ll start as soon as I’m done with the phone.”

“Good. Are you hungry?” Edmund asked.

Cassie winced. “You know, I’ll never get used to you bringing it up so casually like that.”

Edmund sighed. “Hunger is a very normal thing, Cassie. Everyone needs to eat.”

Cassie wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, but I won’t be going out for a burger or anything normal like that. I’ll be… I’ll be drinking your blood.”

“Drinking blood is normal, for a vampire,” Edmund pointed out.

“Nothing about being a vampire is normal,” Cassie told him glumly.

“You just need a bit more time to get used to it,” Edmund told her. “Now, are you hungry?”

Briefly, Cassie considered lying. But Edmund always knew when anyone lied. It was one of his special talents as a mage. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I am.”

Edmund nodded, and offered his wrist to her.

Cassie grimaced. “I can put it off until tomorrow. We don’t have to-”

“Yes, we do,” Edmund interrupted. “No one wants a starving fledgling vampire running around. You need to eat.” He pulled a knife, and, before Cassie could object, ran it across his wrist.

At the scent of his blood, Cassie felt her fangs pop out, and saliva filled her mouth. Slowly, she bent over Edmund’s wrist. He would be fine, she reminded herself. If she lost control, he was more than capable of stopping her.

Cassie fastened her mouth around the cut and drank. Edmund waited patiently while she fed. Finally, he told her, “That’s enough.”

Cassie, to her relief, had no trouble lifting her mouth from the steady flow of blood. Then Edmund muttered a quick spell, and the cut closed. In his veins, Cassie knew, his blood was replenishing itself. Within minutes, he would be back to normal.

Edmund’s cell began to ring. He pulled out the flip phone and answered it. “Hello?”

Because of her vampiric hearing, Cassie could listen in on phone conversations with ease, but she usually tried not to. She began to walk away, to give Edmund his privacy, when he grabbed her wrist. “Wait,” he mouthed.

The caller spoke. “Edmund,” Detective Hanson said, “I’ve talked to Silas Davinson, and hyped you up as a specialist in religiously motivated crimes. He says he wants to meet you.”

Cassie expected Edmund to look pleased, but, instead, he frowned. “In person? A phone call won’t do?”

“Yeah,” said Grace. “He says he prefers to conduct important business in face to face.”

Edmund sighed, and turned to his partner. “Can you meet with Silas Davinson, Cassie?”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Me? Edmund, you’ve got to be kidding!”

“I’m not,” Edmund replied, a bit testily. “You need more experience dealing with clients.”

“Edmund, I’ve never talked to a client alone before!” Cassie protested. “And this case is important! There’s no way I can convince Silas Davinson to hire us.”

Edmund smiled. “Don’t worry. I know you can do it.” It was lucky, he thought, that Cassie did not have his ability to spot half truths and lies.

Cassie bit her lip. “If you say so.”

Grace, still on the phone, asked Edmund, “You’re sending Cassie? Are you sure?”

“She’ll do fine,” Edmund assured the detective.

Grace still sounded sceptical. “Fine. Just know that, if Cassie can’t get you the job, that’s not my fault. I’ve done more than enough to pay you back for the crime scene read. I owe you nothing.”

“Of course,” Edmund answered, trying to sound like he had every confidence in Cassie. The truth was, he wasn’t sure if she could get the job either. He just didn’t dare go himself.

*

Apparently, Silas Davinson wanted to meet in his hotel room. Cassie, riding the elevator to the top floor, nibbled on her lip. She really, really wasn’t sure if she could do this…

With a ding, the elevator arrived on the top floor. Silas Davinson, of course, was staying in the penthouse suite. The plush carpet muffled Cassie’s footsteps. She stopped in front of the door. “I can do this,” she muttered. Edmund thought she could.

A knock on the door produced an immediate answer. Cassie stared at Silas Davinson. She knew what he looked like, of course. His hawklike visage was familiar to most people, especially since Amelie started making the news. It was one thing, however, to see him on the news, and another to see him in person.

Silas Davinson nodded to her, face lined with grief. “I take it you’re the private investigator the Detective Hanson recommended,” he said.

Cassie nodded. “I’m Cassie Middleton,” she said. Biting her lip, she added, “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr Davinson.” When Silas Davinson’s eyes briefly closed, sympathy overwhelmed her nervousness. Up until now, the case hadn’t seemed any more real to her than the stories in the tabloids. But this… Silas Davinson wasn’t the tech industry giant from the news right now. He was a grieving father, a man who had just lost the only family he had left.

Silas opened his eyes and motioned for her to enter. Cassie did so. Shutting the door, he said, “Detective Hanson says that you and your partner are the best in the city when it comes to investigating religiously motivated crimes. According to her, the only reason you aren’t being consulted for this case is because your partner had a falling out with the chief.”

Cassie nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“I am willing to pay double whatever your usual rates are,” he said. “On one condition. If I hire you, you work for me. Not the police. You’ll share as little information with them as possible. You will find the killer first. And then, you will tell me, and only me. Is that clear?

Cassie blinked. “What?”

Silas’s lips thinned. “If I have my way, this bastard is never going anywhere near a jail cell. He will pay in blood for what he did to my daughter.”

Cassie chewed her lip. What would Edmund want her to do? She had no idea. “I need to call my partner, Mr. Davinson. I should discuss this with him.”

Silas nodded. “You do that.” Striding away, he added, “I’m assuming you want privacy. I’ll be in the bedroom. You have ten minutes.”

*

Edmund, lost in thoughts of the past, almost fell out of his chair when the phone rang. He checked the caller ID. Cassie. Was she done with Silas already?

He answered. “Hello?”

Cassie sounded tense. “Edmund. We have a problem.”

Edmund frowned. “What is it?”

“Silas Davinson wants us to keep the identity of the killer from the police,” said Cassie. “He says he’s willing to pay double our usual rates. What do we do?”

Edmund sighed. He should have expected this. Silas had always been vindictive. Ruthless. And if he had a weakness, it was Amelie. “I see no reason not to agree to his terms. I know the cases you’ve worked with me so far have been more or less on the up and up, but this will be far from the first time I’ve operated outside of the law.” He paused. “You don’t need to help me with this case. Not if you don’t want to.”

Cassie sighed. “I suppose I’m in.” She had bills to pay, and double their usual rates was a lot of money. “But… Edmund, it does bother me.”

Edmund grimaced. “I know. I’m not overly fond of this shit either. But, frankly, given the nature of the crime, we might never have been able to bring the killer to the police anyways. As soon as magic gets involved, the odds of conviction plummet. I’m sure you remember the necromancer.”

Cassie snorted. “That guy will be hard to forget. I still have nightmares about him.”

Edmund sighed again. Cassie should never have gotten involved in the magical underworld. She was too innocent. Too kind. But there was no going back now. “I can make you a trinket to help with that.” It was the least he could do, and he’d had a lot of practice back when he’d still gotten nightmares. The tome was probably around his apartment somewhere…

Cassie’s voice broke into his reverie. “Davinson is back. Got to go.” And then she hung up.

*

Silas just nodded when Cassie told him yes, as if he’d never doubted she’d agree. After that it was a simple matter of sorting out the contract and the money paid up front.

Cassie found herself in the elevator again, on the way down. She was nibbling on her lip again. Silas, true to his word, had agreed to pay double their hourly rate, down payment, and delivery fee. He hadn’t haggled over the price at all. Cassie probably could have asked for more, and he wouldn’t have argued. Should she have asked for more? Probably not, she decided. Better to be honest about their usual rates.

Cassie took the bus to Edmund’s apartment. Well, actually, she took three buses, since she had to transfer twice. She chewed her lip nervously the entire ride. After all, she was carrying a lot of money.

Edmund opened the door before she could knock. Cassie blinked at him, and then entered. While his wards let him know the identity of anyone who climbed the stairs, he usually tried not to answer the door before his guest knocked. He must be really eager to hear what had happened with Davinson, she decided. Either that, or he was very distracted.

“So?” Edmund prompted her. “How did it go?”

Cassie shrugged. “He’s paying double, like he said.” She pulled the wad of bills he’d given her out of her purse. “Grab your share. Then we can discuss what to do next.”

Edmund counted out half. “I think we should talk to Mama Hessia.”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Mama Hessia? I mean, she’ll probably have something to tell us, but consider what she’ll ask for in exchange. We should look into local religious fanatics. See if any of them know about magic.”

Edmund shook his head. “The more I think about it, the more I think that the word ‘sin’ wasn’t a judgement on Amelie. I mean, most people who get weird about religion think magic is evil too, right? Also, why Amelie in particular? Most killers start with people they know, not random celebrities.”

Cassie nodded thoughtfully. “We’d know if there were any other crimes with this MO, wouldn’t we?”

Edmund nodded. “If they were in this city, yes. And if they weren’t in this city… I don’t suppose you could look into that?”

Cassie nodded. “Definitely.” She’d already set up backdoors into a number of major law enforcement databases. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind? We’re not going to Mama Hessia?”

“If you turn up something in your search, we’ll investigate that,” Edmund said. “But, if you don’t, I think Mama Hessia is our best bet.”

Cassie sighed. “I really hope I turn up something, then. She scares me.”

Edmund snorted. “Good. She should scare you. She’s dangerous.” Though Cassie’s fear, he thought, likely had more to do with what Mama Hessia looked like than what she could do.

Cassie pulled out her laptop. “I’d best get started. The sooner I finish, the sooner we know if we need to visit the scary snake lady.”

As she sat down and booted up the computer, Edmund pondered their next steps. What information could they ask Mama Hessia for? And what could they offer her in return?