Khaleel emailed me a link the following night. He'd found our primary suspect, Sky Yazzie. I called Ariane and had her requisition a driver. Philippe and I spoke while I waited for them to pick me up. As I sat on the couch going over Yazzie's info on my phone, he commented with occasional insight.
"She's apparently a Jill of all Trades," I observed as I read. "Construction foreman, sous-chef, security guard. Sky Yazzie is a great many things depending on the season. She's union and drowning in debt."
"A desperate woman struggling to make ends meet." Phillippe commented from his glass prison. Green smoke swirled slowly within its jar.
"Says here, she's had multiple encounters with GCPD for drunk and disorderly conduct, and she was detained once for a public brawl where she," I sat up, surprised, "yanked a man's arms out of their sockets."
"Desperate and dangerous... if she broke the First Law, why didn't they take her head?"
"The victim was an under-dweller... the witnesses were all members of the community." I swallowed the lump in my throat.
The green smoke took the shape of a question mark.
"She crippled a demigod? You need to take backup. This woman could snap you like a twig." The smoke broke a spectral branch to illustrate his concern. "What's the local House? Maybe they can send a few enforcers to help if you don't want to bring along thrones. It's in everyone's best interest to get her off the streets."
I laughed bitterly. He wasn't wrong, but I didn't want to involve more people than I had to until I was sure I had the right person. The killer had earned themselves an execution and I didn't want to take the wrong head.
"What if she's not the killer? We can only connect her to one of the victims."
"She fits the profile... but I understand your hesitation, especially with the current political climate. However, sometimes the monster is exactly who you think it is."
"Maybe I'll give Earl a call."
My phone screen switched to alert me of an incoming call. It was Ariane.
"That was quick."
She chuckled on the other line.
"Traffic was light. We're double parked outside."
"Okay. I'll be down in a few minutes."
"Take your time. I'm gonna get out and take a look at your building." The van door slid open and then slammed closed. She was serious. "This is a really nice place. What's the rent like here in Medusa?"
"Can't be much more than it is in Kraken Island."
"It really depends on the neighborhood."
"Very true. But I got lucky. Found a generous and handsome landlord who lets me rent the place at a fraction of the price. The man's a saint."
There was a long pause on the other end.
"You own the place, don't you?"
"I might."
"Wow. You really think you're funny."
"Sometimes." I could hear her stifle a laugh.
"We're downstairs, Lieutenant Cómico."
I looked at the green smoke shaped like an hourglass." I'm on my way."
"That your new partner?" Phillipe asked once I ended the call.
"Ariane Garcia."
"You like her."
"She's smart, capable, and has a background in forensics." I pulled on the top to my specter suit and tightened the straps. Grabbing my throne dagger and sheath, I prayed I wouldn't need to use it. "I can think of only a handful of detectives with her education."
"That's impressive and likely one of the reasons her uncle chose her, but that's not what I meant."
I busied myself securing my weapons, anything to avoid looking at the man in the jar.
"Hmmmm, I can read you like a book, you know."
"She has some... amiable qualities."
"Amiable qualities?" Cackling skulls filled the jar and the laughter of a long dead warlock swept through my apartment. "You might as well say you're in love. As I said, like a book."
"Good night, old man." I put on my coat and made sure my keys were in my pocket.
"Safe hunting."
Ariane stood in front of the building talking to one of my neighbors. The two spoke in rapid Spanish, giving me sideways glances as I closed the door behind me.
"El es un hombre bueno, pero bien cayado."
"Si, lo noté."
"Good evening, Mrs. Lopez," I interrupted. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I didn't like the way they chuckled. "You ready to go?"
"Yup. Mucho gusto, Senióra Lopez."
"Mucho gusto, niná." Mrs. Lopez smiled at me and walked to the door. "Good night," she said with a wink. She went inside and the door lock clicked closed behind her.
"She really likes you."
"Are you sure? We barely speak." I thought about the little old Puerto Rican lady who lived two floors below me. Her family had been tenants of the building for years.
"She says you remind her of a young man who lived here when she was just a little niña." Ariane leaned in and lowered her voice. "Apparently she had a big crush on him."
I thought about the eighty year old woman and chuckled. She'd been a cute kid. As I climbed into the van I wondered if I'd stayed in the apartment too long. My management company owned much nicer places in Tartarus, but I'd always been partial to Medusa. Of all Gorgon City, Medusa felt the most like home.
"Where to, Detectives?" the driver asked as Ariane sat in the passenger seat.
There was something in his tone I didn't like.
"That's Lieutenant, Mr..."
"Jacob, sir."
I met his gaze through the rearview mirror, holding his gaze until something stirred in the depths of his eyes. Similar to the inner-beast of a lycanthrope, an animal lurked within, but less wild and less alive. Jacob was a grave hound, a type of vampire rare in North America. His kind could shapeshift into cadaverous dogs.
He broke eye contact, staring down at his hands. He gave Ariane a sidelong glance then shook his head.
"Where to, Lieutenants?"
I sensed Jacob's resentment towards Ariane was twofold. As a vampire, he was having a hard time accepting a lycanthrope with more authority and his weaker animal was intimidated by her wolf. The situation was the kind of nuanced threat I hadn't expected.
"We might need to make a number of stops," I explained to the two of them. "The suspect has had multiple addresses in the last few years. Most have been in Stygia so we'll go there first."
"Any in Rat City?" Ariane asked. "We should focus on those and the ones near Israel Park."
"My thoughts exactly."
"I don't have remote access to the database yet. Does Mrs. Yazzie belong to a pack? We might be able to talk to her alphas and get some insight."
"Her file doesn't say, but, if I had to guess, I'd say no. She seems like a loner."
"The bears tend to be."
Jacob put the van in drive and directed us toward Stygia. I sent Khaleel instructions to look into Ariane's database access then I gave her my phone so she could catch up on Sky. As we travelled across the bridge to the expressway, we discussed my suspicions and the proper way to direct our questions.
She suggested putting an Apprehension Team on standby. I thought about it, but concluded we wouldn't know what jurisdiction to activate until we had an address. Backup would need to wait.
"Can we ask Agatha for help?"
"We involve the local House as a last resort."
"Why?"
"House laws often conflict with The King's Law in small intricate ways that complicate things."
"... doesn't The King's Law trump theirs."
"Mostly, but their autonomy is to be respected whenever possible."
"Sounds like a mess."
"As I said, it's complicated."
The first two addresses, the ones right in the middle of Rat City, were dead ends. The apartments were occupied by new tenants who couldn't give us any help tracking her down. The third address was a lot still smoking after a recent fire. We spoke to a few neighbors, but no one remembered anyone fitting Sky's description.
I had trouble believing someone who had trouble keeping a rental in Rat City could afford a place near Israel Park, but it was our next destination.
Jacob parked across the street from the address, a nice two story home on a street of similar buildings.
"How do these specter suits work?" Ariane asked me. She'd been examining her sleeves for a good portion of the drive.
"The fabric is a weave of fey origin. When we press the button on the inner cuff a current runs through it and we become difficult for human eyes to focus on."
"But how? Those people we spoke to today didn't even react to them, but I've seen thrones run through crowds and not be seen at all. What's the science behind it?"
"I... I don't know."
I knew what she was getting at. The vampire council was against anything magic, but our suits were clearly more than technological marvels.
We climbed out of the van and crossed the street. I stood on the curb and let my senses take stock of my surroundings. The block was quiet with nice cars and well tended yards. The opposite of Rat City. I was struck by the absence of the ever present stink of neglected garbage which fed the abundant rat population of Stygia. Israel Park felt like a different world from her neighbor on the other side of the park of the same name.
Due diligence was the only thing to drive me up the stairs because I knew we were wasting our time. We walked up a trio of steps onto a quaint porch and I rang the doorbell.
"Nice neighborhood," Ariane observed. "I live one subway stop away."
I hadn't known that.
"Really?"
"Yeah. The rent can be expensive. Unless she owns... this is most likely another wild goose chase."
"My thoughts exactly."
The porch light came to life in a sudden burst of blinding brightness. A huge halogen lamp sat above the front door. The door swung as my sensitive eyes attempted to adjust. A tall burly woman filled the doorway. Sky Yazzie was a handsome Native American woman with strong features and an even stronger build. She wore a simple denim shirt and brown slacks. Her long hair was held back out of her face by a turquoise headband.
"Can I help you?" she asked, there was an edge to her voice. She knew who we were.
"Sky Yazzie?" I asked. I recognized her from the pictures in her file, but I needed her to confirm.
"Yes? What do you want?"
"We're here to ask you a few questions."
"Questions about who?"
Ariane tossed me a look, disguised as a casual glance. Her message was loud and clear. Yazzie asked who not what. I suspected she not only knew who we were but why we were there as well.
"We're here about Sheila Taishoff." Ariane's tone was friendly but firm. Perfect for the situation.
Sky's eyes darted toward the blade at my hip and the imposing woman suddenly looked uneasy, even scared.
"Can we come in?" Ariane asked, taking the slightest step towards the door.
Sky looked down at her feet and backed into the home, leaving the door open. Ariane looked to me for confirmation and, once I nodded, followed the woman inside. I looked back at Jacob, who watched us from the safety of his tinted windows. I signaled for him to keep a lookout and stepped inside only to be tossed back out by a rushing wind from within.
I crashed into the porch railing, but caught myself before falling off the side. Ariane rushed back out to check on me, confusion written all over her face.
Sky Yazzie had never given me permission to enter.