“What would you like for dinner, tonight, Dad? I’m feeling like steak. And maybe some creamed spinach…”
* * *
Ryu stayed for dinner that night, so I was glad we had decided on steak. I’d realized when I was checking over my neck and wrists for any signs of last night’s activity why I was craving iron-rich food. But for my unusually large appetite, however, there were no outward signs that I was screwing a blood-sucking creature of the night. Except for the faintest, and I mean almost invisible, bruising on my neck and wrists, I was entirely unmarked by Ryu’s and my affair.
I watched, happy to be quiet, as my dad and Ryu talked about poker. My dad loved poker and would even watch it on TV, which to me was the equivalent of watching paint dry. But for some reason, I was not at all surprised that Ryu was equally keen on the game. I bet he’s got himself quite a poker face, I thought, just as he caught me watching him and gave me a toothy grin.
I smiled back, realizing, at that moment, just how happy I was that he hadn’t had to leave Rockabill so soon. It felt like every minute I was with Ryu I was seeing a new Jane solidifying on the horizon. Maybe, I thought, if he stays long enough, she’ll get so solid you can just jump into her, and leave Old Jane behind. I took a second to ponder the likelihood of being able to give New Jane thinner thighs…
When we were done eating, Ryu helped me load the dishwasher before we said good night to my dad. Then we were in his car and heading past Nick and Nan’s old bed and breakfast—now a struggling boutique hotel run by Stuart’s parents—and out into the wilds north of Rockabill.
We pulled up to a beautiful log cabin that was entirely wrapped around by a lovely verandah, or deck, or whatever the proper name for a log cabin porch was. Nell was on the porch rocking away in her little rocking chair, while Trill was playing Frisbee with Anyan. I smiled at the sight, watching as the big dog made an enormous leap into the air to catch the Frisbee. Trill had a powerful arm, and if Anyan hadn’t caught it I think it might have taken off the top of a tree. Trill grinned at me and Anyan wagged his tail slowly, but didn’t come over.
We headed up the porch to where Nell sat rocking. “Good to see you again, child,” she greeted me, and then turned an appraising eye on Ryu. “You look pleased with yourself, youngling,” she told him. He gave her a cheeky smile and his courtly little bow.
Moving inside the cabin, I admired its neat, homey interior. The first thing I noticed was the smell—it smelled deliciously of lemon wax and cardamom—and then I noticed all the art. There were amazing sculptures all over the place, tucked on top of and between various pieces of battered but attractive furniture. I hoped I’d get a chance to look at the sculptures up close, but now was not the time. I did, however, give as good a snoop as I could as we walked through to the seating area. The kitchen was surprisingly modern, with a state-of-the-art refrigerator and range. I assumed this was Nell’s cabin, but I wasn’t quite sure how she could reach the top of the stove. Which I didn’t think was the most polite of questions, so I surreptitiously looked around for a footstool as Ryu and I settled onto the overstuffed leather sofa. Meanwhile, Trill sat down at my feet while Nell dragged her little rocking chair inside and sat down across from us. Anyan lay half in, half out the cabin’s open front door, as far away from Ryu and me as he could get.
Nell nodded at Anyan and, causing the dog to flinch, said, “While you two were amusing yourselves, Anyan has been very busy. The body is disposed of, and he’s collected Gretchen’s effects. Her briefcase was only slightly damaged by the fire, but her files and business planner had already been removed. Her killer overlooked her personal planner, but it contains very little information outside of her dental appointments. Goblins like to keep their teeth sharp,” Nell informed me, as an aside. I nodded gamely. “Anyway, Ryu, you might be able to make something of its contents. Finally, Gus is on his way because Anyan was clever enough to remove that, as well,” Nell said, pointing to a large, jagged quartz rock sitting on a copy of National Geographic in the middle of the coffee tale.
I blanched when I figured out what it was: the stone that had bashed in Peter’s skull.
“Nice work,” Ryu said to Anyan, and for a second I got the impression he’d almost called Anyan “sir.” Maybe that’s what this tension is about, I thought. Ryu used to be Anyan’s underling, and now they’re supposed to be equals. That can’t be a comfortable situation. I looked curiously between Ryu and the barghest, as if by comparing the two their secrets would be revealed.
Ryu took my hand just as we heard footsteps coming up the gravel drive, and Anyan whirled about to greet the new arrival. It was Gus, moving as slowly as ever, his eyes floating as if in space behind his glasses.
He gave us all a curt greeting, taking a moment to peer at Ryu and me, his enormous eyes blinking disconcertingly, before his attention was drawn to the stone sitting on the table. He walked toward it the way another person might walk toward an abused animal, before he gently picked it up and stood stroking it, humming to it like it might startle otherwise.
I shuddered. Gus’s rapport with the stone was giving me the willies. Not only was it just weird, but I could see that the rock still had blood and, I imagined, wodges of brain goo on it. The rock was not something to be caressed; it was something to be Lysoled.
Ryu squeezed my hand. “Gus, dear,” Nell admonished, gently. “Can you tell us anything?”Gus looked up and I could see that he was nearly crying. “Oh, it’s awful,” he said. “She saw everything. She’s still very upset.”
I couldn’t help it, it was all too much. I let out a little snort of derision; it was either that, or run away screaming.
Gus abruptly turned toward me, the quickest movement I had ever seen him make. “It’s not funny,” he said, sharply. “How would you like it if someone picked you up and used you to brain somebody?”
I looked at Ryu, helplessly. I think I was a little hysterical and it was taking everything I had in me, plus my literally biting my own tongue, not to burst out laughing.
Ryu took the situation in hand. “Gus, Jane meant no offense. She is new to our world; be patient with her.” His words settled me, and I managed to give Gus a solemn nod. “We need to know what the stone can tell you; does it have any idea who used it?”
Gus looked down at the rock for a long moment, his expression so compassionate I started to take him a little more seriously. “I’m sorry,” he said, finally. “She can’t really tell humans apart.” Gus chose his next words with care. “She just sees humans as ugly bags of water.”
Alarmed, I whispered to Ryu, “Isn’t that from a Star Trek episode?” but he shushed me.
“She would know the killer’s scent, however. We stones have a very good sense of smell and wonderful memories,” Gus finished, giving a little sniff as if to punctuate his point.
I shuddered, imagining the rock walls of my cove smelling me every time I brushed past them…
“Thank you, Gus,” Nell said. “That will be all.”
“May I take her with me?” Gus asked, pointing at the stone. Ryu interrupted, then, to say, “No, I’m sorry. We may have need of it later. But when this is all over, we’ll be sure to return it… um, her, to you.”
Gus sighed, giving the rock a little hug and whispering to it before he set it back down on the National Geographic. He gave it a parting caress, then stumped back out the front door without saying good-bye.
I sat there, trying to wrap my head around what I’d just seen, while Ryu joined Anyan in the doorway. I watched as Anyan pointed his muzzle at a large paper bag sitting on the kitchen’s granite-topped island, and Ryu went to collect it. Settling back down beside me, he began rooting around inside the bag. When I caught a strong smell of burning I realized it must be Gretchen’s effects, and then I remembered Martin’s body. I told my stomach in firm tones to stay settled, just as Ryu produced Gretchen’s singed briefcase.
He went through the pockets, but it had indeed been cleaned out. There were a few receipts for dry cleaning and Starbucks, and a packet of tissues. For dabbing at eye mucus, I thought queasily, but then I shook myself. Goblins probably think we’re the hideous ones, with our smooth flesh and our fatty limbs. And she was murdered and stuck in an oven, which is not a nice way to go.
Tucked away in an all but hidden back pocket of the briefcase, however, was a tiny pink planner that the killer must have overlooked. It was too small to be Gretchen’s business planner, and it only contained personal appointments, so Nell was right in thinking that Gretchen probably had another planner for her professional dealings. Nevertheless, there might be something in there to give us a clue and Ryu was poring over it as if it were War and Peace.
“Hmph,” he grunted, suddenly. I had come to know Ryu’s grunts, and that was a happy grunt. “Look at this.”
Written in blue pen under the entry for today was “Iris’s, Eastport, 1:30.” There was a number scrawled underneath.