Homesick Book 2. The Secrets of Blackthorn Manor

Not So Good News

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Chapter Twenty

Not So Good News

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Daniel leant against the car. He'd spent the last half hour repeating his story to about four different police officers and one representative from the practitioner's council. Whilst finding the body of the elderly Professor was not inherently suspicious, learning that he was visiting her after hours and that he happened to be the best friend of one Adrian Blackthorn meant that the one round of questions soon turned into four.

Daniel was smart enough to delete the call log of his conversation with Adrian before the cops showed up. He wasn't going to hand over his phone to anyone, but that didn't mean he wanted to tempt fate. Fate could kiss his ass.

The other small miracle was that Adrian, with his bizarre new bond, was able to tell Duchess to scamper. The little black cat had disappeared into the hedges. She would probably stay close but keep out of sight. Explaining why he had her was not part of Daniel's plan.

The cops really had nothing nefarious they could pin on Daniel. For once, having a government issued practitioner around had worked in Daniel's favour. All deaths were meant to be screened by a council issued practitioner to rule out any suspicious deaths linked to magic. The councilman had already swept the office, found the traces of magic and concluded that their signature didn't match Daniel's. The castor wasn't even of the same elemental affinity. Plus, there was security footage that supported Daniel's story of his arrival time.

The woman had been deceased for several hours, long before Daniel had ever arrived.

'Am I free to go? I have work in the morning,' Daniel said. The officer, constable... something, looked up from his notepad. His lips pressed themselves into a hard, thin line. The officer was a plain-looking man, average build, average height. His eyes were a little too close together and his face was lined prematurely from a job that had taken its toll. His sour expression showed he didn't want Daniel to leave.

Daniel sighed. 'Look, I want to cooperate here. You have my contact details. I even gave you my work number. I'm not leaving the city or anything like that.'

'And you wanted to visit the professor to just... catch up? You aren't a student here, correct?'

Daniel took several deep breaths. It would not look good if he started smoking. Losing control of his magic, even the tiniest bit, was a surefire way to get him arrested. 'I am not a student here. I told you that. Three times.'

The officer nodded, but his pen didn't move. He clutched it tightly, his gaze tracing Daniel's face.

'And what did you want to discuss with the deceased?'

Daniel wanted to tell the man it was none of his damn business... using very colourful language. Unfortunately, he needed to play his cards carefully so instead he asked, 'Am I being arrested?'

The two men glared at each other. This dude needed to work on his people skills. 'We haven't finished our questioning.'

'Am I being detained?' Daniel asked coldly.

The man hesitated a fraction longer. 'No. We will be in touch.'

'Wonderful.' Then, because he just couldn't help himself, he added, 'now maybe you can do the rest of your job and work out what happened to my friend.' He turned and climbed into his car. He put the key in the ignition when a nasty thought occurred to him, and he paused.

Duchess. Fuck.

He was already in the car. He was also hyperaware that Constable Asshole was now watching him like a hawk. His fingers twitched on the steering wheel. He had to drive away. If he stayed, that would only raise more questions. Maybe there was a quiet side street a little ways away that he could pull over. Praying that Adrian still had his weird two-way connection with the little black cat, Daniel put the car in gear and pulled away from the carpark, the eyes of the officer following him until he drove around the corner.