Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (simple ebook reader .txt) 📕

detritus! The spineless bottom feeder was just trying to distract people from all the horrors he was committing by turning folks against us. If the people had a common enemy in shifters, then they couldn’t all unite and rise up against him.”

Icy dread washed over me. “Why haven’t I heard any of this before?”

She lifted a brow. “Because he buried it, dear. Why do you think all his political rivals and dissidents got thrown in Carclaustra prison, hm? It’ll come out, it sure will.” She shook her head. “I just don’t know if it’ll be too late for people to change their minds about our kind.”

Hot anger flared inside me. “Why shifters?”

She shrugged. “Because it was easy to tell people that we were related to monsters when giant creatures were ravaging the land. He played on people’s fears. Never mind that he sicced those very monsters on us himself.”

She took another swig. “We could change into animals. That mouse in your baseboards? Could be a shifter spying on you. That stray cat? Could be a shifter ready to invade your home and murder your children in their sleep.” She raised her brows. “The lies he spread drove us underground. I thought it’d just be temporary, but—” She clicked her tongue. “Here we are.”

I took a deep breath and blew it out in a big gust. “That’s a lot to take in.”

23

Undertow

Mrs. Rankle reached over and patted my arm. “We all got caught in the undertow of it. Poor kiddos like you and Letty and all the rest of the orphans got it worst of all.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

She gave me a sad smile, the lines around her eyes deepening. “The orphanage, dear. People were giving up their babies left and right if they happened to be born shifters. Everyone was afraid—it was such a stigma to have a shifter child.”

My stomach tightened. My parents had given me up because I was a shifter. My thoughts drifted to Will—he’d mentioned that his ability to shift hadn’t manifested till he was a teenager. That was probably why he’d been raised in a wealthy family in a top tier. But if he’d been able to shift as a baby… I shook my head. We probably would have grown up in the orphanage together.

I looked down at my fruity drink and took a huge sip. I’d had no idea about any of this—I’d just figured that this prejudice against shifters was the way it had always been. I looked up as another idea occurred to me. “When did Ludolf come to be in charge?”

Mrs. Rankle nodded. “Well, right around that same time, dear. When we were all driven either underground or just into hiding our abilities.”

“Not before then?”

She shook her head.

I tapped my fingers against the glass. So Ludolf had emerged as mob boss of the shifters at the same time King Roch was spreading propaganda about us. This would give me a good starting point to look into him more. I gulped. I sure hoped Peter would agree to help me. The more I learned, the more I realized what I was up against.

I finished my drink, then turned to my old headmistress. “One more thing, if that’s okay?”

She nodded. “Go on, dear.”

“Do you remember anything about Letty’s strawberry allergy?”

She pursed her lips. “Just that it was fast acting. Why, the first time it happened, the poor thing had barely touched the fruit to her lips when she had a reaction.” Mrs. Rankle winced. “Her face turned red and splotchy, her lips swelled, and her throat closed up. I nearly had a heart attack, searching our first aid kit for that anti-allergy potion.”

Something turned inside me, and I sat up straight. “That’s it!”

She shot me a puzzled look.

“Thank you!” I jumped to my feet and set my empty glass on the seat of the metal lawn chair. “Good to see you again, Mrs. Rankle. I think I know who killed Letty.”

She gave me a wave. “You too, Miss Hartgrave. I’ll look for the news in the papers?”

I nodded and bounced on my toes, eager to go find Peter. “Yep—if I’m right.”

She winked. “Go get ’em.”

I ran (well, jogged a few stretches and speed walked the rest of the way) up to the police station at the top of the mountain. Edna waved hello, and I sped past cops escorting perps, over to Peter’s metal desk. He looked up, surprised, Daisy curled up at his feet. I’d stopped by home to change my clothes, otherwise I’m sure she’d have had a lot to say about that special eau de sewer.

“Jolene. I thought we were regrouping tomorrow.” He stacked some pieces of parchment. “My shift’s just about over, want to grab a cup of—”

I perched on the edge of his desk and flashed him a grin. “I think I know who killed Letty.”

His eyes, tired and dull from a full night of work, lit up. “Yeah?”

I nodded. “I need you to test Chaz Harrington’s clothes for something.”

He frowned. “Okay….”

I glanced down at Daisy. “And I’ve got an idea. How good is your coroner with potions? And can you have a patrol bring Will and Heidi up here?”

24

Evidence

Peter, Daisy, and I (and a few more cops for backup) had shown up at Chaz’s penthouse, only to discover he wasn’t home. We left a couple of officers to search Chaz’s place for his wedding tux, and Peter contacted Edna back at the station. We were able to locate Chaz at his parents’ estate, but by then Inspector Bon caught word of what was going on and insisted on supervising, since the Harringtons were such a prominent family in Bijou Mer.

A couple of officers stayed posted near the doors of the library while we gathered Chaz, Cybil, May the maid, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, and their lawyer inside. Chaz slumped on the chaise beside Cybil, looking miserable, while Mrs. Harrington poured herself an ample glass of wine and Mr. Harrington