Witchcraft, said Willis neutrally.
I nodded. It wasnt a secret; the witches had been hiding in plain sight for a hundred years or more. In places like New Orleans or Salem (Massachusetts, not Oregon), they were virtually a tourist attraction. That human culture dismissed the validity of their claims was something the witches I know thought was a delicious irony: when they had tried to hide, they had been hunted and nearly destroyed. In the open, they were viewed as fakesand, even more usefully, a lot of the people claiming to be witches really were fakes.
But this wasnt witchcraft, I said again, in case hed only been paying attention to part of what Id told him. Not any witchcraft Ive smelled before, anyway. If you ask, Adam has someone he can send to check it out. Elizaveta Arkadyevna was our pack witch on retainer. She wont agree to talk to you, but we can get the information for you if you would like.
Not admissible, grunted Willis.
Neither, probably, will Mercys testimony be, agreed Tony. But at least we wont be running around in the dark with blindfolds on.
Sister
The whisper came out of nowhere. I glanced around, but no one else seemed to have heard it. A movement caught my eyeand there was a coyote crouched in the brush about fifty feet from where we all stood.
It could have been a real coyotethere are a lot of them around Finley. But I knew that the coyote was Gary Laughingdog, not because I had some sort of special way of telling walkers from coyoteshis body language said he was looking for me, and I wasnt on speaking terms with the local coyotes. He met my eyes for a full second, then slipped away: message received and understood. He wanted to talk to me; otherwise, he would never have shown himself. Maybe he knew something about what had happened here.
I blinked at the dead a moment. Could Coyote have done this? It was a useless question because I had no idea what he was capable of. There were no stories that I knew about Coyote killing like this, but I didnt know all the Coyote stories.
All the women are wearing clothing,
said one of the police officers.
Could still have been sexual assault, said another one.
Cougars hide their prey, so that they can eat it over a few days, the first officer offered tentatively, and someone made a gagging noise.
I dont think they realized I could hear them because they kept their voices down.
Just for the record, you think this was done by something supernatural? Tony asked me in a low voice.
Yes. I told you, I smell magic.
A werewolf did this, said Willis with authority.
I hunched my shoulders and shook my head. The magic isnt werewolf or fae. I might be able to do more if I can get closer.
You smell magic, and that means it wasnt a werewolf? asked Willis, sounding like he didnt believe me. I didnt blame him.
I am not going to make things up just to make both of us feel better, I said. Werewolves smell like musk and mint. This smells like magic and scorched earthand that is bad. Adam wouldnt have a lot of trouble hunting down a rogue werewolf. It would be hard for one to hide from the pack more than a day or two. We can stop a werewolfand Ill tell Adam to keep an ear to the groundbut I dont think this is a werewolf kill.
What if it was one of your pack? Tony asked, almost gently. They would know that wed bring you in because we have before. They could hide their scent from you.
I shook my head. Trust me. This kind of mass killing? Werewolves can smell emotion, can smell when something is off. A pack member who did this could not hide it from the rest.
This wasnt done with a lot of emotion, said Willis.
I looked at him.
Look at them, he told me. The bodies are arranged for maximum effect. The animals are on the bottom, the women on top, heads together like a macabre pinwheel. I hadnt looked that hard, but once he said it, I saw it, too. A pinwheel of dead womenand now that image was going to haunt me for a long time. The killer felt nothing for the deadunless youre right, and they were tortured before they died. But when he left this, he was in control. No strong emotions for your pack to smell.
He couldnt smell the fear and agony that I did. Nor could I tell him that no wolf could have hidden from the pack bonds while he killed so many.
Maybe someone is trying to make trouble for the werewolves, Tony said.
I think it is the werewolves making trouble for themselves, said Willis.
You brought me out because you wanted my opinion, I told them. It could be a werewolf, but if it is, isnt one of our pack. I dont think its a werewolf. I dont smell one, but I cant get close enough to check.
Why dont you come over to the other scene, Tony said. Theyve got what they need from it? He addressed that question to a woman in muddy overalls, and she nodded at him with a sort of studied weariness. Maybe you can see something we dont.
I started to turn away and caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked back over my shoulder and saw a woman kneeling right smack in the middle of the crime scene. Her blond hair was in a professional bun that contrasted with the jeans and tank top she wore. For a surreal moment, I thought it was Christy, and almost asked her what she thought she was doing. Then she moved and broke the illusion. It was just her hair and something in the sweep of her jawline that reminded me of Adams exwife.