Chapter 558
The children's bodies were taken to the freezers to wait for the Canadian Examiner who might not arrive for a couple of days. "He's busy," was Fleur's explanation.
After lunch, Katelina followed Jorick and Jamie to the library where Sarah joined them. The two women brainstormed over the details of the murders and Jorick asked, "What happened to your phantom stalker?"
Sarah looked thoughtful. "You think they're related?"
"No," Jorick said. "But if you want to play Sherlock Holmes, you should stick to that and let Ark handle this."
"Yes," Jamie agreed without looking up from his laptop. "Someone should keep an eye on whoever plans to kill Jorick. He isn't interested and I don't have time."
"You're just saying that," Sarah accused, though her voice lacked conviction. "It's a ploy to keep us focused on something minor."
Jamie shook his head. "No, I believe someone hunting Jorick while he sleeps is important, especially given this new development. However, if you think it's minor-"
"Of course not," Sarah snapped.
"All right then. We'll leave you to handle that, and Jorick and I" he gave his partner a meaningful look. "Will concentrate on this."
"There isn't much to concentrate on," Jorick said cheerfully. "Ark will handle it when he gets here."
"In a couple of days." Jamie scribbled a note in a pad and looked up. "I think we should start the questioning. Ark will appreciate the head start."
Katelina didn't give a damn what Ark appreciated, but Sarah shushed her objections. "We might be able to find out something about the stalker." Katelina bit her tongue to keep from saying she'd already solved it.
It's the creepy, wind walking twins.
***
The Executioners set up in the library. Sarah and Katelina took chairs behind them. Andrei and Fleur stood next to the desk, both unreadable.
Jamie shuffled through sheets of hand written notes. "The Heartless killings, as the human media's dubbed them, started several months ago in Ontario. There's speculation that they began earlier in Saskatchewan or Alberta, though they couldn't prove a link."
"I'd think a missing heart would be a pretty obvious connection," Jorick commented.
"The hearts weren't missing in all of the earlier cases." Jamie clicked through several screens on his laptop. "There are a lot of unsolved child murders and disappearances, and some involve varying degrees of mutilation. There's no way to link them to this, or know exactly when the offending vampire might have moved into the area."
"If the killings have been going on for months, then we know it has to be someone who's been in Canada all that time," Katelina said. "Just check The Guild's database."
"A fine idea," Andrei replied coldly. "Assuming the United States keeps a close eye on Canada."
"They don't," Fleur added.
"It's the Assembly's job to keep tabs on locals," Jamie said sharply.
Fleur scoffed. "We'd like to, but, our manpower and resources are minimal. It's a moot point. If any of the guests were registered in Canada you'd have pounced already."
"Actually, there are two," Jorick said. "Aside from Andrei's coven."
Andrei's chin rose a notch. "I can vouch for my own."
"I'm sure you can," Jamie said. "But we still need to ask them some questions."
"So you'll want to interview my coven and the two guests from Canada?"
"We'll need to talk to everyone," Jamie replied.
Katelina and Sarah exchanged looks.
Andrei's frown deepened. "Is that really necessary?"
Jamie nodded. "As you said, The Guild keeps very loose track of who is, and isn't, in Canada. Any one of them could have been here for months, not to mention you've hired some Canadian vendors. It could as easily be an entertainer as a guest."
The staff. Though Katelina was technically a member of it, and had all of her meals in the smaller "staff dining room", she hadn't considered them as possibilities.
Andrei's irritation doubled. "Since this is my den, I demand to be present for your interrogations."
Both Executioners scowled. Jamie looked ready to refuse, then his face smoothed. "Fine. But if I suspect you're imparting answers to anyone, you'll have to leave."
Andrei sniffed disdainfully. "In that case, I insist the interrogations are spoken, and not purely mind reading."
"Obviously," Fleur said. "Otherwise I can't keep up."
They interviewed the members of Andrei's coven first, brought in one at a time by Cornelius. When they questioned Kolli, the blond looked confused. "What you mean is did I kidnap children from somewhere and dump their bodies in the weeds? Why don't you read my mind and see I didn't?"
The Executioners exchanged looks, then did as he requested.
Jamie scribbled a few notes on a pad of paper and dismissed their suspect.
Fleur scowled and Sarah whispered, "If they do that with all of them, we won't learn anything."
"Can't you do it?" Katelina murmured back.
Sarah looked at her like she was crazy. "I can't keep up. When they announced he was innocent, I'd barely gotten past his conversation with Trivila about the bodies. I don't know how they see so much so fast."
Katelina hadn't realized there was a difference in the ability, past being able to get around tougher resistance. "Maybe they're more focused, like using better keywords in a search engine." Vampire Google. The idea made her chuckle.
They zoomed through the remaining coven members. Sarah doodled absently on her notepad, and Katelina tried to keep track of the names and faces. As Andrei promised, all of his coven members had alibis for the last year, and all denied having been in Ontario or Quebec.
"We'll need to see Annabelle, too," Jamie said.
Andrei scoffed. "Surely she is above suspicion? She helped locate the body."
"No one is above suspicion," Jamie answered irritably. "Besides, she may have seen or heard something."
"Perhaps. But I insist you delay her questioning. Uncovering such a-scene today has upset her. She's retired to her room."
"Fine." Jamie made a note and glanced to the waiting Cornelius. "Lets' start on the Canadian staff."
There were two troupes from Canada and a set of caterers. One after another had no information, weren't on Jamie's list of wind walkers and phantoms, and could account for their whereabouts for the last year.
"We aren't getting anywhere," Katelina murmured to Sarah.
"Neither are they," her friend replied.
"Patience," Jamie said. "Or perhaps" he broke off at a look from Jorick. "Never mind."
"He was going to suggest we leave," Sarah whispered. "But I imagine your boyfriend told him not to. What better way to make sure you're safe than to keep you under his watchful eye?"
Jamie gave them a hard look then turned to Cornelius. "Bring the Canadian guests next."
The guard saluted, then hurried away. He returned with a vampire whose dirty-blonde hair was full of gel. His years hung around him like a mantle. His brown eyes swept the room. When they landed on Katelina she fell into them a moment before he moved his attention elsewhere, leaving her with goose bumps.
Great.
He called himself Jome, and admitted to living in Saskatchewan with a coven that included fellow guest Yuki. "Neither we, nor our coven mates have ventured to Ontario to feed in a long time."
Jamie asked, "Have you seen or heard anything suspicious or do you know of anyone who's left the premises?"
"Several of us have come and gone. I myself went for a walk with a lady last night. M?ngkedai was gone overnight, or rather over-day, the day before yesterday. He said he needed cigarettes. Though we assured him there were plenty here, he insisted on going."
M?ngkedai. He was on Jamie's list. The day before yesterday was when it snowed. If he'd been gone he couldn't have been standing at their door, and she was sure someone had been that day.
Sarah seemed to be thinking the same thing when she scribbled down, "Monk guy has an alibi".
"Grayson's young stud has disappeared a few times," Jome went on. "The one with the damaged brother-I've barely seen her. Grimald disappeared three days ago for several hours, but I believe Petta could tell you what he was doing. Saul was gone for most of the night, shortly after the party started. If rumor is true he consulted a lawyer over a payment to Sorino."
Jome went on. Hopper disappeared the other evening, but he thought it more likely he was meeting someone for some private time. Demetrious and Diana were hard to pin down, while Eagan, Jamie's former master, acted suspicious on several occasions. Kali, Tol, and Ren nipped out to their rented camper a few times. Zarra never joined in the activities so she could be sneaking away, and on and on it went. Jome managed to implicate nearly every guest before Jamie sent him out the door.
"Eager to draw attention away from himself," Sarah commented.
"Or just gossipy," Jamie sighed. "You could tell he was enjoying it."
Though Yuki was in the same coven, she was exactly the opposite. When she was dismissed she'd said only a handful of words, none of them useful.
"That finishes the Canadians." Jamie rubbed his forehead. "On to the rest of the guests."
