City of Magic: The Complete Series by Helen Harper (book club recommendations TXT) 📕
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- Author: Helen Harper
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I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked faster. ‘Perhaps it was all Julie. Perhaps she killed Valerie and pinned the blame on Philip. He was a loner. He would have been a convenient target to take the fall.’
‘And the scratches on Philip? What about those?’ Monroe asked. ‘Or Maggie? What about her?’
‘Maybe Julie manipulated Maggie into killing Philip. Julie is an actress – and a very good one. Maybe she managed the crime scene and planted the idea of the scratches into our heads.’
‘And then,’ Monroe questioned, ‘she manipulated that guy back there to go with her to Boggart Hole to kill Nimue? She’s on a random murder spree and is getting others to join her as she goes along?’
I stopped suddenly in my tracks. Damn it. There were far too many leaps of logic. ‘It doesn’t make any sense,’ I admitted.
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘And people don’t like Julie. They hold her responsible for a lot of what’s happened. You’re just about her only friend. To imagine that she managed to get these others on her side and follow her into committing these crimes … it doesn’t seem credible.’
‘It doesn’t fit together, either,’ Anna interjected. She looked at me sternly. ‘The first rule of any investigation is to focus on the hard evidence, not to fill in gaps with ideas and conjecture. Stop speculating. Let’s focus on what we know and use that as the basis to work out what we don’t know.’
I passed a hand over my face. That made sense. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Okay.’ I was letting my wild thoughts take over and joining dots where perhaps there weren’t any dots to join. I sighed. Jumping to conclusions wasn’t going to help anyone. But unfortunately neither could we ignore what facts we already had. ‘Right now, it looks like the deaths are connected. Julie is the only suspect we have who’s alive, other than Maggie. We have to find her.’ I glanced at Anna. ‘Agreed?’
She smiled at me. ‘Agreed. You’ll make an excellent detective yet, Charley.’
I certainly bloody hoped not. I never thought I’d miss the day when all I had to deal with were petty squabbles and complaints over gluten-free cereal bars. I managed a smile. Just about. ‘At least we’re getting somewhere,’ I said. ‘We have more information now than we had an hour ago. Whatever is going on here – and whatever we’re dealing with – we have more of the puzzle pieces.’
‘That’s my ray of sunshine,’ Monroe murmured. He smiled at me but I could see the sadness in his eyes. Once this was done, I knew with absolute certainty that he would cut all ties with me. He’d already decided there wasn’t any choice. I reckoned I only had until these deaths were solved to change his mind.
I set my jaw. I wasn’t alone. I could do this. All of this. The alternative wasn’t worth thinking about.
Chapter Twenty-Two
There was nothing to go on in Julie’s house: it was empty of both the vampire actress and any clues that she was involved. Unless vast quantities of gin could be counted as a contributing factor to murder.
I wasn’t sure whether I should be relieved or dismayed at the lack of hard evidence. ‘Monroe and I will have to go to the north and see if we can find her there,’ I said decisively. ‘Maybe she’s still with Cath.’
Monroe coughed. ‘I’ll go alone.’
No way. I had the distinct feeling that if he did, I’d never see him again. ‘I’m not arguing with you,’ I told him.
‘Good,’ he began.
‘I’m coming with you.’
Icy fire sparked in his blue eyes. ‘Stay here. From the revelations about the magic and the reactions of your people, you’ve more than enough to deal with.’
‘Anna and Lizzy can stay. They’ll keep the peace at this end.’
‘Actually,’ Anna said, ‘I was going to come too…’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Monroe and I will deal with the north. And Julie.’
‘The north is mine. I’ll go alone.’
I glared at him. ‘Julie is mine. I’ll go with you.’
‘She’s a vampire.’
I shrugged. ‘So? She’s still part of this community. And if she’s not actually involved in any of this – and the evidence so far is purely circumstantial – it’s better that I’m there to avoid any hotheads prevailing.’
He regarded me coolly. ‘So far, I’ve been remarkably calm. You’re the one who’s been the hothead.’
I pretended that I hadn’t heard him. He did have a point. ‘Either way,’ I said, ‘you can’t stop me from coming with you.’
Monroe growled. ‘Yes, I can.’
No, he couldn’t. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’
A deep snarl rumbled in his chest. ‘You’ve proved that the magic in the city has affected everyone. All those people who never had anything supernatural about them before have been touched by it, fundamentally changed by the atmosphere. It stands to reason that if that same magic is affecting vampires and werewolves, I could turn on you at any second. I might not be able to control myself. Not only that, you’ll be walking into a part of Manchester that’s filled with other predators. I won’t allow it.’
‘You’re not my boss,’ I said.
Lizzy nervously put her hand into the air. ‘Um, what’s going on? How is the magic affecting vampires and werewolves?’
‘We’re all more powerful than we used to be,’ Monroe explained.
Lizzy considered this for a moment then nodded. ‘I’m a bunyip,’ she said quietly. ‘Every day I feel it more.’
Monroe’s head jerked towards her. ‘You’re right.’ He stared at me. ‘Lizzy can come with me. You can stay here.’
I rolled my eyes in irritation. I knew exactly what he was thinking. Sometimes the man was a complete idiot. ‘Lizzy wouldn’t attack anyone.’
She started. ‘What? Why would I attack anyone?’
‘The magic isn’t just making us stronger,’ Monroe said. ‘It’s speaking to our natural predatory instincts and causing reason, logic and emotion to fly out of the window. It explains why a vampire, whether it was Philip or Julie, would drain Valerie of all her
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