Free WereWoman by Piers Anthony

be.”
    â€œSo can Weres,” Nonce said a trifle sharply.
    Jim smiled tolerantly; he had surely known a Witch or two in his day. “Make your case.”
    â€œWe believe that my friend Bear was murdered,” I said. “And that it may be linked to the Warlock case. And to a Vampire case. A serial killer of Supes.”
    â€œAn inter-Clan matter,” Jim agreed. “We will cooperate, of course. Just let us know what you need.”
    â€œJust your approval,” I said. “We are well aware of Bear’s contacts, and will interview them. If any balk—”
    â€œNone will,” Jim said. That sufficed.
    â€œThank you,” Nonce said, and kissed him on the cheek. He liked that; he had to. But his decision had been made, for Supe solidarity, not to please her.
    Back in the car we organized. “I will mind the office,” Syd said. “I will prepare a list of Bear’s contacts.”
    â€œMeanwhile we’ll tackle the Witches,” Nonce said.
    We left Syd at the office, and moved on to Nonce’s residence, and considered the main Witch suspect: the client seeking the reality room. I had not had time to ferret that out when I was in the Warlock’s office, but now it was no problem: Nonce knew it. He was a wealthy Goblin named Burket. Goblins were squat, ugly, ill-tempered, and generally hard to get along with, but they could tolerate extreme heat and pressure underground, were not claustrophobic, and could ferret out gold, gems, and whatever other valuables were hidden there. So Burket’s riches were no coincidence; they were typical of the Clan. Goblins normally bought what they wanted, including especially the favors of nymphly ladies. Money made up for ugliness.
    â€œBut he didn’t do it,” Nonce said.
    â€œHow can you be sure?”
    â€œThat project was invaluable to him. The death of Standish puts it out of reach, until he finds and hires a new Warlock at great expense. He would never do that. Goblins are rich, but they don’t waste money.”
    â€œUnless Standish changed his mind about the project, infuriating him.”
    â€œStandish didn’t change his mind. He was intrigued, and Burket was paying extremely well. I didn’t know what the project was, but I knew he was committed.”
    â€œStill—”
    â€œPhil, I know the Goblin didn’t do it.”
    â€œHow—”
    â€œI seduced him. I read his magic when we connected, same as I did with you. Goblins can be mean as hell, by no coincidence, but he was innocent of any desire to hurt Standish or torpedo the project.”
    â€œYou seduced the Goblin,” I echoed, hurt.
    â€œOh, don’t be that way, Phil. That was months before I met you. I’m a Witch. Seduction is part of my nature. I didn’t give him love, just artful sex. It was part of our due diligence before Standish accepted the project. We had to be sure Burket was legitimate.”
    It did make sense. “Sorry. My love is still new. I’m foolishly possessive.”
    â€œOf course you are,” she agreed fondly. “I apologize for inadvertently teasing you. Possess me.”
    â€œI don’t—”
    She kissed me and guided me to the bed. I knew she was mainly trying to abate my mood and dissipate my spot jealousy, but such was her expertise that I was helpless to resist. In five minutes I no longer cared who else she might have seduced; I was in sexual heaven.
    â€œStill, I should interview the Goblin,” I said
    â€œYou will. After we clear it with Goblin HQ. Today we must tackle the siblings, who are also innocent.”
    â€œHow can we nab the murderer if every suspect is innocent?”
    â€œThat’s why I hired you, remember? I couldn’t figure it out, but you surely can.”
    Oh, joy! I would have to find a way.
    We drove to the siblings’ residence. It was a conservative single story cottage beside a small lake, not the kind