Free Vigil: Verity Fassbinder Book 1 by Angela Slatter Page A

stop.’
    ‘You’re not going to do
anything
?’ I felt the old anger raise its head and pushed it back down, determined to stop my knee-jerk reactions, no matter how justified.
    ‘What is there to do?’ he asked reasonably. ‘The beldame’s dead. I’ve told Eleanor and the other Councillors that the problem
     has been solved.’
    ‘When I threatened her with the Council, that old woman said she could
handle
them – and she wasn’t at all bothered. Doesn’t that give you pause?’
    ‘V, if the Five had anything to do with her, why would they have me – and by extension,
you
– investigate?’
    ‘Believe me, I’ve thought about that. If you’re a member of the Council and indulging in naughtiness, surely objecting to
     any investigation is going to paint a big red “Suspect Me!” sign on your chest.’ I tried to get him to understand. ‘You make
     your exit strategy first, just in case, but you also let things take their course and hope for the best.’
    ‘Is that why you didn’t report in?’
    I had the good grace to blush. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him; just that I knew that whatever I told him would’ve gone
     straight to the Five. ‘It wasn’t only her,’ I pointed out. ‘Aspasia said something similar.’
    ‘Aspasia? Person voted most likely to yank your chain?’ He gaveme a disbelieving stare. ‘V, the old woman was just trying to make you despair. These things, they go away—’
    ‘Great. So the bad shit goes on tour.’ I shook my head, feeling a pulse building at the base of my skull. ‘It doesn’t stop
     being your –
our
– responsibility because it’s not in our back yard any more. She wasn’t operating in a vacuum, Bela – people were paying
     for that wine. And you can bet
other
things are being done, too.’
    He held up his hands. ‘I just meant that without the wicked witch there’s no one to ask about her buyers. And it’s not like
     she kept records, or at least, none that I found.’
    ‘What was her name? How long had she been here? She said she knew Grigor, Bela, that he’d worked for
her
.’
    ‘Well, whoever she was, no one’s admitting to knowing her. There was no handbag lying around with ID in it. And you kind of
     toasted her, V – if there was anything on the body, it’s ashes.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tangle of warped
     pearls, precious stones and melted golden metal. He dropped the mess into my palm – I thought I still felt some warmth to
     it and imagined the devouring flames – then ran his hands over his face. ‘Honestly, you think I wouldn’t know if a Council
     member was breaking our laws?’
    ‘How
would
you?’ I challenged. All I could hope for now was to plant a seed of doubt in him. ‘Ziggi drove by West End Library again:
     Her photo on the noticeboard, the newspaper piece about her donating money? It’s unreadable. It was faded before, but you
     can’t even make out her features now. Someone’s set an erasing spell.’
    ‘She probably set a general track-covering technique in case she had to make a quick exit. She didn’t expect to get Fassbindered.’
     He paused. ‘No one ever does.’
    ‘What about the house? The filing cabinets? What about a titledeed? There’s got to be
some
kind of documentation. No one can live without leaving any trace at all . . .’
    ‘Look,’ he sighed, ‘I arrived more than an hour after Ziggi got you and the little girl out of there.
Anyone
could have got in – after
you
broke the door – and swept the place. I can’t tell you what I don’t know, V.’
    ‘What about Sally Crown?’ I knew what I’d promised, but after seeing Lizzie laid out on a steel table and having my own flesh
     perforated, I wasn’t bothered about maintaining Sally’s anonymity. Besides, I wasn’t entirely sure that she hadn’t sent me
     to the gingerbread house with intent, to win some Brownie points from her boss.
    ‘The Normal girl? Gone. No sign of her.’
    I didn’t think