Unfallen Dead

CHAPTER 20

A surprised Sophie Wells answered the door when we rang the bell on Pinckney Street. “Is Lady Ardman expecting you?”

“She should be,” said Murdock.

Wells looked like she was trying to decide whether that answered her question, but she did let us in. She led us into the parlor, then knocked on one of the pocket doors at the back. At a muffled reply, she slid a door open and leaned her head into the next room. I couldn’t hear the exchange, but Wells turned to us with a professional smile and pulled the door open all the way. In the next room, Lady Ardman rose from her desk.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

I kept my tone neutral. “We’ve received some new information we’d like to talk to you about.”

Ardman glanced at the secretary, who nodded and left the room. “What can I do to help, gentlemen?”

“It concerns the Met robbery in New York. We were hoping you might be able to shed some light on the situation,” I said.

The pleasant cooperative expression slipped off her face. “I thought you were here about Lionel. What would I know about a robbery in New York?”

I slid my hands into my pockets to look relaxed. Keeva was right about one thing when it came to dealing with fairy royalty — an aggressive stance rarely worked well. “The two seem to be connected. Some of the stolen items turned up here. The information we have is that the thieves were working for someone else. That someone paid a large sum of money for the job, and we have a strong lead on the source.”

Ardman sat on the couch. Turning away and not meeting the eyes is always a good sign I’m on the right track. “I don’t see how this involves me, Mr. Grey.”

I pursed my lips a moment. “Lady Ardman, two people are dead. A murder attempt was made last night on Keeva macNeve. You don’t seem the type to let people die who are only trying to help you. If you know something, you have to tell us.”

She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know anything.”

Murdock stepped closer. “Why didn’t you mention you knew about Viten’s affair with Rhonda Powell?”

Ardman looked at him in surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“Last time we spoke, you said the affair was a private pain for years,” he said. “According to the case file, the Guild uncovered the affair through financial records. You told the Guild back then you didn’t know about the affair until after Viten was arrested.”

Ardman’s hesitation confirmed that Murdock had hit on something. The Inverni woman stared at her hands. “This is extremely embarrassing, but I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. I discovered the affair and confronted him. He told me he would break it off. I never met that woman, but I knew her name.”

She didn’t look embarrassed. She looked nervous.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked.

Tears welled up in her eyes. “Fear, Mr. Grey. I suspected Lionel was having an affair. I’m embarrassed to say I went through his things. I found a soul stone that wasn’t mine. Lionel had a protection charm on it, because he knew I touched it. We argued, and his lies poured out. He told me he would take care of the situation. That’s how he put it. ‘Take care of the situation.’ I didn’t think anything about it at the time. But that phrase came back to me when I read that Rhonda Powell had been murdered. I feared for my life if I were to say anything after that.”

I could buy that. Finding out a husband’s mistress was shot dead right after an affair was discovered would spook anyone. “Do you know if he had accomplices other than Powell?”

She paled. “I didn’t think so. Lionel trusted no one. Not even his mistress as it turns out.”

Her voice was soft. I crouched in front of her. “Lady Ardman, who did you pay for the Met robbery?”

The tears began to fall. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I put my hand on hers. “Lady Ardman, financial transactions can be tracked. If you tell us what happened, we may be able to stop more murders. Please tell us before it’s too late.”

She sobbed and fumbled with a handkerchief. “I don’t know who she is, Mr. Grey, but she knows everything about me. She has my soul stone and would give it to me if I gave her money. She said if I didn’t give her the money, she would destroy the stone.”

“Did she give it back?”

Ardman shook her head. “She said she’s not ready yet.”

“Ready for what?”

“I don’t know! All I wanted was the stone. I didn’t know anything about murders,” said Ardman.

“Why is this stone so important?” Murdock asked.

I shook my head at him to let it go for now. I dropped my voice. Meryl told me once that I lose sight of the human emotion of a situation when I’m investigating. “Rosavear, she’s killing people connected to Viten. You’re more connected than any of them. I don’t think she’s going to give your stone back.”

She hit her knee with a clenched fist. “I knew it. I knew it wasn’t over.”

“We need you to help us catch whoever this is. Can you do that?”

She nodded vigorously. I gestured for Murdock to join me in the foyer.

“We have to bring the Guild into this,” I said, when we were out of earshot.

“I’m not going to argue,” he said. “What the hell is a soul stone?”

“It’s an old custom between fey lovers. They give their souls to each other. It takes a lot of ability. You branch off the soul and infuse a ward stone with it.”

Disbelief swept Murdock’s face. “The fey have detachable souls?”

I kept my eye on Ardman. “I doubt it. If I understand the theory behind the spell, it’s not really a soul like you think. It’s more their basic life spark, the core of their essence.”

“And Viten made one for Powell and Ardman,” he said.

I nodded. “Right. Only lovers do it because it’s an enormous trust issue. If you crush a soul stone, it’s like physically crushing someone’s heart. The person dies.”

If anything, Murdock looked even more stunned. “Are you kidding me?”

I held my hands up. “That’s what I’ve heard. It may or not be the soul, but it’s one helluva powerful spell.”

He shook his head with an odd look of anger. “That’s bullshit. Souls don’t work that way.”

I was about to say something flip but stopped. Murdock’s Catholic. Talk of using a soul in a spell was treading way too hard on his theology. “Think of it as essence, then. Here’s the key part, though. Whether it’s the soul or essence or whatever, if you fatally injure the body of someone who has a soul stone, the soul stone can revive the body.”

Murdock shook his head several times before speaking. “God, I can’t believe this.”

I nodded. “Viten shot Rhonda Powell in New York while her soul stone was in Boston. She’s not dead.”