He scowled. “You were squatting by the body and waving your hand over it.” He made a horizontal waving motion with his own hand. “What was that all about? Did you touch the body?”
Shit. He’d seen me trying to feel the arcane resonance. “No, sir, I didn’t touch the body,” I said, thinking furiously. “I, uh, was trying to see some of the cuts better, and there was some glare from the halogens.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Glare. Uh-huh. And Tessa Pazhel is your aunt?”
I just nodded, not wanting to say anything that could make me look like more of an idiot. Glare? That was the best excuse I could come up with?
“She has a rep for being a weird little bird,” he said, “but I’m sure you know that.”
I couldn’t help but bristle at the slight. “Sir, my aunt is—”
He lifted his hand, cutting me off. “I know, I know. I’m out of line maligning your family. I shouldn’t have said that. But I want to make it very clear, Detective Gillian,” his sharp blue eyes stayed on mine, “that I want these murders to stop, I want the bad guy to go to jail, and I don’t want any bizarre shenanigans on scenes. It’s not enough just to solve a case. We have to be able to take it to court as well. You weren’t wearing gloves, and it looked like you touched the body.”
“Yes, sir.” What more could I say? He was right. “I didn’t mean to get so close to the body. I’ll be more careful, sir.”
He looked steadily at me for what seemed like several minutes, though I knew it was probably only a few seconds. I willed calm, maintaining my demeanor as he regarded me only by utilizing my training as a summoner.
Finally he waved a hand at me. “You’re dismissed, Detective. Just keep in mind what I said.”
I stood. “Yes, sir. I will.” I turned quickly and exited. The secretary glanced up as I passed, giving me a small wink and smile that managed to drag my morale back to normal levels. She’d probably overheard quite a few ass-chewings over the years, and I felt a bit better after the silent reassurance.
Returning to my office, I shut the door and sat heavily at my desk. I deserved that, I had to admit. At least he hadn’t pulled me off the cases. I forced myself to take some comfort in that—not easy after being rebuked by the chief. But apparently he still had faith that I could handle it. I just had to be more careful. The last thing I needed was for people to think I was as strange as my aunt. It was besides the point that I was as strange as my aunt, but that didn’t mean I wanted people to think it. Who are you kidding, I thought wryly. They probably already do.
I finally exhaled heavily and spread my hands on the top of my desk. I can handle it. I’ll solve these cases, using every fucking trick in or out of the book. So what if no one had been able to solve the Symbol Man murders the last time he was doing his killing. None of them could see the arcane. That gave me an advantage.
Now I just had to use it.
Leaning back to reach my filing cabinet, I yanked open the middle drawer, then riffled quickly through the files until I came to the thick folder containing the pictures from all the previous murders—Series One, as I was beginning to mentally refer to them. I flipped through the pics quickly. All those bodies had been dumped in places that were traveled infrequently, which meant that they were often not found for days or weeks. The body at the wastewater plant had been found quickly, but the fracture injuries made me think that he’d meant to place the body up on the vat, or somewhere else less visible.
But the victim at the ball field was meant to be found quickly. So why the change?
I worked my way through the pictures, taking note of something else. The Series One victims had been killed in a variety of ways, except for the last two—who’d been strangled. They’d all shown evidence of prolonged torture, but the main feature that had tied those murders together was the symbol. Always the same symbol, though not always in the same place on the body. Sometimes not even in an immediately visible location. Both victims from my cases—Series Two—had been strangled. So, why the change? Could it be a copycat?
It doesn’t matter, I finally decided. It’s still a murder investigation.