Sucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 27)

“I think if one of them did it personally, it was most likely Muriel,” Newman said.

“Honestly, I have trouble seeing either of them as the actual hands-on murderer.”

“You like Jocelyn better for it, her own dad?”

“The level of cold-blooded manipulation and lying that she’s had to do to convince Bobby that she loves him, is in love with him,” I said, and shook my head, “if she could do that, I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

“He’s a wereanimal. Why didn’t he smell that she was lying?” Newman asked.

“I’ve seen powerful wereanimals and vampires that were fooled if the lie was in one of their personal blind spots or they were too emotionally involved. Just because you’re supernatural doesn’t mean you can’t lie to yourself.”

“And Bobby isn’t that powerful a shapeshifter, so it would have been easier to lie to him, right?”

“There’s some of that. Being able to smell a lie is usually shapeshifter territory. You can lie to low-level vampires more easily than to low-level shapeshifters.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.

“Muriel seemed to believe that she’d inherit the family estate and artwork,” I said.

“She and Todd are going to be charged with theft or something,” Newman said.

“So why steal anything if they knew that Jocelyn was going to cut them into the lion’s share of the estate? I mean, why not just wait until the will goes through probate and the dust settles?”

“Good point,” Newman said, “but if they didn’t do the actual murder, and Jocelyn was in full view of a club full of people, then who did it? Who killed Ray Marchand?”

“You mean, besides Bobby?”

He shook his head. “No, Forrester and Jeffries say the murder wasn’t shapeshifter claws and teeth, so that means it’s not Bobby.”

“Not if Bobby knew he’d be the first suspect. What if he used the bagh nakha instead of his own claws?”

“Then it would be premeditated and utterly cold-blooded. I don’t see Bobby pulling that off,” Newman said.

“I agree, but I’ll admit that I like him better than any of the rest of the family, so I may be prejudiced in his favor.”

“Me, too,” Newman said.

“So Jocelyn seems to have set Bobby up as being a crazy sexual stalker after his own sister, and when the father said to cut that shit out, Bobby went all wereleopard crazy and killed Ray.”

“If Jocelyn is the one lying, then yes,” Newman said.

“We heard her voice on the video. That was not a victim. That was a willing participant in a relationship,” I said.

“She’s lying about the relationship, but what if she believes that Bobby killed their father because of the relationship? Then maybe she’s so traumatized that she’s trying to distance herself from all of it.”

I frowned at Newman. “Are you saying she’s convincing herself that Bobby stalked her, or even raped her, so she won’t blame herself for him killing their father over the affair?”

“Sounds far-fetched when you say it like that.”

“I’ve seen weirder things, but it makes more sense for Muriel to believe she was inheriting the house and contents.”

“But if she’s inheriting all that, then why steal?” he asked.

“Maybe their debts are so high, or maybe they’ve borrowed from dangerous people like a loan shark, and they can’t wait for the will to go through probate,” I said.

“I’m not sure that Muriel and Todd would know anyone that dangerous.”