She had been walking away, but she halts. “Yes, of course?”
“Raif did mention one thing when I saw him. He was talking about a key? To a safe-deposit box, I think? Or a locker? Do you know what he was talking about?”
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She shakes her head. “Sorry. No idea. It probably wasn’t important.”
“You’re right. I mean Storm’s team are sure the murderer was after Lynesse and poor Raif just got in the way. She was the gorgeous succubus, newly engaged to the famous actor and all that. And it happened at her house. It would be so weird if it turned out to be about Raif after all.”
“Exactly,” she says.
“Anyway, just forget I said anything. It probably isn’t relevant. I’ll let Storm know, though. He likes to cover all his bases. He’ll probably want to do another search of Raif’s place to make sure they didn’t miss anything.”
I walk away slowly, and I am sure I can feel her eyes on my back.
Nicely done, says the little voice. Now we’ll see.
Chapter 22
STORM
Caprio rolls to his side on the ground, groaning as Storm handcuffs him.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” he says. “This isn’t fair.”
Storm finishes reading him his rights and yanks him upright onto his feet. Remi limps over. She takes off her broken-heeled shoe, looking mightily angry at it. “Serves me right for wearing a human-made shoe,” she mutters.
“As opposed to what?” says Monroe, catching up to her.
“Goblin-made of course. You wouldn’t get a goblin-made shoe that couldn't take a beating.”
“Shoes?” Caprio roars. “What the hell are you talking about? You tricked me! And I never assaulted no one!”
“Sure you did,” says Remi. “My poor foot is gonna bruise up any second now.”
“Calm down,” says Storm. “We’re taking you down to our offices.”
Storm’s phone rings in his pocket. He grabs it with one hand. Seeing that it is Diana, he hands Caprio over to Remi and Monroe. He moves away a little to answer the call, wanting to tell Diana the good news.
“Hi, Di—”
She cuts him off, babbling urgently into the phone, “I’ve got her, Storm! She was pretending to be nice to me, and she was oh-so-convincing, but I just know it!” Her voice is low like she is worried about being overheard by others.
“What are you talking about Diana?”
“Beatrice Grictor, of course. You have to come to Raif Silverstone’s house because everything is about to happen.”
“Are you there now?” he asks sharply.
“Not yet. Meet me there in say ninety minutes, okay?” She sounds odd, and more than a little strained.
“No I will not!” Storm snaps. “Stay away from that house, Diana. We’ve secured it for evidence. And you promised me you’d let this Beatrice Grictor thing go.”
“No. I promised to ask Beatrice for counseling, and I did. So that’s all done. Are you going to meet me there or not, Storm? I need you.”
“You are not to go there, Diana,” Storm says, biting off each word tensely, trying to keep his anger in check. “We already have a suspect in custody. This case is over. Do you hear me?”
Her tone changes suddenly to chipper and bright. “A suspect? Really? I hear you, boss man. It looks like you’ve won. Talk about spoiling all the fun. Toodle pip.” She hangs up.