Born to Bite (22 page)

“Come sit down, Eshe,” Lucian ordered as he moved to the table with his coffee.

She set the jams on the table, and then hesitated, but Leigh was manning the toaster, and Bricker seemed to have the stove under control, so she poured herself a coffee and moved to join the three men at the table, taking the seat beside Armand.

“As you pointed out upstairs, you’ve obviously got someone’s attention with your investigations,” Lucian said grimly as she dropped two cubes of sugar in her cup and reached for the cream. “We need to figure out how.”

Eshe was silent as she poured cream into her coffee and then stirred the steaming drink. Setting the spoon aside, she then sighed and admitted, “I’m not sure how. We’ve really only managed to question Armand and Harcourt. Although our presence has been widely noted,” she added dryly, think of the reaction in the diner.

“William?” Armand asked with surprise. “You can’t suspect him. He wouldn’t have killed Althea. She was his daughter.”

Eshe grimaced. “I agree with you on that. I don’t think he’s behind the deaths, but talking to him was useful. We did learn some things.”

“Yes, they did,” Lucian said quietly. “Harcourt alibied you for Rosamund’s death and was sure you couldn’t have followed them to Toronto when Althea died. He said you were working with a foaling mare?”

Armand grimaced, an unpleasant memory obviously sliding through his mind. “We lost the foal. Nearly lost the mare too,” he said, and then stiffened with realization. “You suspected me?”

“Well, as far as I could tell you were the only obvious connection between the three women and Annie,” Lucian said with a shrug.

“We had to cross you off the list, and talking to Harcourt did that,” Eshe said quietly. “As well as Marguerite. She and Jean Claude apparently visited while you were away, arriving after you left for court, and leaving early on the evening of the fire. She verified that you were away while they were there.”

“Right.” He sighed. “But William Harcourt was at court when Cedrick and I got there. He left before I did, but he was with me when Rosamund died. So if all three of my wives were killed, then he isn’t the culprit either.”

“So that takes both William and Cedrick off the list too if Susanna’s death wasn’t an accident,” Eshe said with a shrug.

“What about the brother and sister?” Bricker suggested, turning from the stove to glance their way.

“Susanna was very close to her brother and sister,” Armand said quietly. “That’s why she turned Agnes. They wouldn’t have hurt Susanna, and they weren’t even in the country when Althea died.”

“It’s sounding like no one could have done it,” Anders said dryly.

“That was my conclusion a century ago when I started looking at the deaths myself,” Armand admitted, sounding depressed.

“Well, someone did something,” Lucian announced grimly. “There’s some reason why you two were locked in a burning shed.”

Silence reigned around the table for a moment and then Eshe glanced at Armand. “Is there anyone else at all you’ve known since before Susanna’s death?”

Armand thought for a moment, but shook his head. “We were a lot more spread out then. The Harcourts weren’t that far away, and neither were Marguerite and Jean Claude, and of course Cedrick worked for me at the castle and Susanna’s brother and sister were there, but…” He shrugged helplessly. “That’s it.”

“Maybe Susanna’s death was an accident and you only need to be looking at Althea, Rosamund, and Annie’s deaths,” Anders suggested.

“That’s possible,” Eshe murmured.

“I don’t know,” Bricker murmured from the stove. “Althea’s death sounded like it could have been an accident too.”

Eshe glanced to him with disbelief. “You’re kidding right?”

He glanced over his shoulder with surprise. “No. It was a hotel fire. It could have been an accident.”

Eshe frowned, “You didn’t notice anything fishy about Althea’s death when William Harcourt was describing it?”

Bricker was frowning now too as the others watched and listened curiously. “No. Not really. I mean, it was a
hotel fire
. They happened.”

Eshe shook her head with amazement and marveled, “It was obvious when he was telling the tale that Harcourt didn’t pick up on it either, but then he’s a man.”

“Hey. I’m a man too,” Bricker protested.

“Oh right,” she said, and bit her lip to keep from laughing at his expression. Smiling, she said, “I just think of you as an enforcer rather than a man.”

“I can’t be both?”

“Maybe when you’re older,” she allowed.

“Gee thanks,” he said dryly.

“What did you notice that Bricker didn’t that makes you think she was murdered?” Armand asked, and he sounded almost eager. She supposed he would be glad to at least know one way or the other in his own mind if his suspicions had a good reason.

Eshe hesitated, aligning her thoughts in her mind, and then said, “Well, it was a hotel fire as Bricker said…but it apparently started in her room during the day.”

Bricker shrugged impatiently. “You guys used lanterns and candles back then. One or the other probably got knocked over or fell or something.”

“But it was during the day,” Armand pointed out, his thoughts apparently following along Eshe’s. “Althea slept during the day as a rule. But even if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have needed a lantern or candle during the day.”

“Exactly.” Eshe smiled at him.

“Yeah, I guess that’s kind of odd,” Bricker allowed with a frown as he turned back to begin turning the strips of bacon.

Eshe nodded, and then said, “Except that she wasn’t sleeping.”

Bricker wheeled back around at once, a piece of dripping bacon dangling from the end of his fork. “What do you mean she wasn’t sleeping?” Bricker asked with surprise. “William said she was exhausted, that she asked for the room at the back of the hotel so it would be quiet and Mary took Thomas so he wouldn’t disturb her. She—”

“She was wearing the earrings her parents gave her for her eighteenth birthday,” Eshe interrupted to remind him.

Bricker stared at her blankly. “So?”

“Althea never wore her jewelry to bed,” Armand said quietly.

“William said she was tired,” Bricker pointed out, and suggested, “Maybe she was so exhausted she just crashed and forgot to take them off.”

Eshe shook her head. “They’re too uncomfortable. She wouldn’t have forgotten.”

Bricker snorted. “I’ve slept with lots of mortal women who kept their earrings on.”

“I’m sure you have,” Eshe said dryly. “But mortals have pierced ears and most immortals don’t.”

“Yeah,” Leigh said on a sigh. “I have to say that’s kind of a bummer. I had pierced ears as a mortal, but after the turn?” She shook her head. “My ears healed up the moment I took out the earrings I was wearing when I turned. I tried getting them pierced again, but they just healed up again when I took the studs out.”

Eshe grimaced and nodded. “You’d have to repierce them every time you wanted to wear earrings, and you’d have to do it with the earrings you want to wear.”

“No thanks,” Leigh said dryly.

Eshe smiled wryly. “Most immortals aren’t sadistic enough to want to do that. Generally we wear clip-ons that pinch the lobe.”

“Sounds uncomfortable,” Lucian murmured, standing to fetch himself another coffee.

“They are,” Leigh said dryly, and scowled at him as if he were at fault for her having to wear them.

“Sorry, my love,” Lucian murmured, and bent to press a kiss to her forehead.

Leigh’s scowl faded. “It’s not your fault.”

They shared a smile, and then Lucian kissed her again before turning to cross the room.

Eshe eyed the man curiously as he reclaimed his seat. It was the first time she’d witnessed this softer side of him. It made him seem almost human.

Catching her watching him, Lucian raised an eyebrow. “You were saying?”

“Right,” Eshe murmured, and then regathered her thoughts. “So, anyway, aside from the pinching, the fashion back then was large, clunky pieces that would have been uncomfortable to wear while lying down. Impossible to sleep in and definitely not something Althea would have worn to bed,” she murmured, and then added, “Besides, William said when they brought out her remains, the only thing left was her charred head and that’s just wrong. The nanos make us highly flammable. Everywhere. She should have gone up like a Roman candle if she caught fire. There shouldn’t have been anything left…unless the head was away from the actual fire itself.”

“And away from her body when it went up,” Lucian said thoughtfully. “You think she was awake and alive for some reason and beheaded like Annie and Rosamund, then her body set on fire?”

Eshe shrugged. “That would explain why her head survived mostly intact while her body didn’t. It might have rolled under the bed or somewhere else where it was just slow roasted rather than going up in flames.”

“Right.” Bricker sighed with defeat. “It is sounding less like an accident.”

They were all silent for a moment, and then Bricker said with bewilderment, “But who could have done it? William said the trip to Toronto was a spur-of-the-moment thing. For someone to have followed them to kill Althea, they would had to have been directly on their heels.”

Everyone turned to Armand.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” he said quickly. “I was busy with the mare.”

“Yes, but you were also at the farm when they left,” Lucian pointed out. “Was there anyone else there? An immortal who would have left right behind them?”

Armand frowned, his expression thoughtful, but finally said, “No. John and Agnes were in Europe and I’d sent for Cedrick when the mare first started having trouble. He was there with me helping the whole night and well past dawn.”

“It doesn’t have to be someone who was around when Susanna died if hers was an accident,” Eshe pointed out.

Armand took another moment to think, but finally sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. There was no one. Besides,” he added grimly, “I did look into this myself after Rosamund’s death. I asked questions and even read minds. None of the people you’ve mentioned lied to me as they answered the questions I asked.”

Eshe nodded. “I read William’s mind too when we talked to him. He was definitely telling the truth about the deaths he knew about.”

“Then we’re back to no suspects,” Lucian said dryly.

Armand hesitated, but then said, “I don’t suppose Jean Claude…” He let the sentence trail off and then grimaced when Lucian began to look like thunder. “I’m sorry, Lucian. I know the idea upsets you, and frankly, I can’t think of a reason he would have wanted to hurt me like this, but I can’t think of anyone who would, and he did do some crazy things.”

“He did,” Lucian agreed coldly. “But he didn’t set the shed on fire. He’s dead.”

“He’s been dead before,” Armand muttered with disgust.

Lucian suddenly looked weary. “Yes, well, trust me. He
is
dead now.”

Armand sighed. “Fine. Then we’re back to square one. Four women dead, no rhyme or reason for it, and no suspects. Welcome to my world,” he said bitterly.

“At least you can be relatively certain now that Althea was murdered,” Bricker pointed out. “I mean, we’re agreed on that, right?”

When everyone nodded silently, Bricker shrugged. “And someone nearby is nervous about the investigation or they wouldn’t have tried to kill you two in the shed,” he pointed out. “I guess we just keep asking questions. Someone somewhere has to know something that can lead us in the right direction if Annie found out something fifty years ago.”

Eshe noted the sharp glance Lucian then turned on Armand. She saw his eyes narrow and then he said, “I asked you this in the diner, but I’m asking again. Annie was apparently asking a lot of questions about the deaths of your wives. It wouldn’t be unexpected that she’d try to talk to you. Did she ever come down here?”

“I told you no,” Armand said quietly. “I wasn’t lying. I never met Nicholas’s Annie.”

“Maybe she gave you a different name or didn’t give you a name at all,” Eshe suggested quietly. “Did anyone at all show up around that time asking questions?”

Armand shook his head. “No. I’m sorry.”

Eshe sat back with a sigh and then shrugged. “Well, then Bricker and I keep asking questions.”

“
We three
will all keep asking questions,” Armand said grimly.

When Eshe glanced to Lucian in question at that, he said, “Leigh and I are returning to the city after breakfast, but I’m leaving Anders with you. I want you to split up into two pairs. Eshe, you’re with Bricker. Armand, Anders will be with you. I want one pair to talk to Susanna’s brother and sister and the other talks to this Cedrick fellow. Find out what they remember about the deaths and if any of them spoke to Annie. Find out everything you can and then call me in Toronto and we’ll talk again.” Before anyone could comment, he then turned to glance to Bricker. “How long until we eat?”

“Right now,” Bricker said at once, handing a plate of bacon to Leigh as she paused beside him with a plate of stacked toast already in hand. As Leigh carried those two plates over, Bricker pulled two more plates from the oven to carry them to the table as well.

Eshe’s eyes widened when she saw that while one held a dozen eggs cooked in a fashion that the waitress at the diner had referred to as “over easy,” the other plate held a small mountain of hash browns. She hadn’t noticed him cooking those, but then she’d been distracted by the conversation at the table.

“I want to talk to you before you leave,” Armand said quietly to Lucian as they began serving themselves.

Eshe glanced at him curiously, but suspected she knew what he wanted to talk to Lucian about. She’d noticed the way he’d reacted to Lucian’s assignment of pairs. She suspected he was going to argue that she be paired with him rather than Bricker. But she also knew without a doubt that Lucian would say no.

Twelve

“I want to be paired with Eshe,” Armand announced
the moment he’d closed the office door shutting him and Lucian inside.

“No.”

“She’s my life mate, Lucian,” Armand said grimly.