Secrets and Lies

It seemed almost cliché but the next ten or twelve minutes involved a lot of frantic rushing around the back half of the hospital, in a desperate effort to try and locate Dr. Hugh Reeves.

He was last seen by both Yates and Murray after completing Shaw's autopsy, when he said he was going to get cleaned up and changed out of his scrubs. Except there was no sign of him in the change room, and a thorough search found no trace of him anywhere else in the mortuary department.

It wasn't until Walcott and Yates started questioning the other soldiers that we finally got a lead. Apparently Reeves simply walked out the door after telling one of the guards he'd been sent out on a rush assignment for the general. Worst of all, that happened before we'd even spoken with Dr. Murray, which meant Reeves had a good fifteen minute head-start. If he left by car he could be a dozen kilometres away already.

Walcott and Yates both started making calls. The lieutenant got in touch with Detective Fraser from the local police detachment, she explained the situation then asked him to mobilize his people to try and find the missing doctor. Meanwhile the general contacted authorities at Inverness Airport, incase Reeves was hoping to leave the region by plane.

That kept the two officers busy, so I took a moment to speak a little more with Dr. Murray. I led him and Phoebe and Emma back into the briefing room before asking, "Did you notice anything off about Reeves' behaviour during the autopsy? Or before, while you were helping him prepare the body?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "I don't know the man that well though. I've seen him around since the army showed up last week, but I've only spoken to him a few times."

Feebs chimed in with a question of her own, "Did you at least figure out what killed Shaw? Or is that another mystery?"

Dr. Murray sighed, "Normally I'd say you need to wait for the coroner's report. Considering the situation though, I can give you an unofficial off-the-record answer. We're pretty sure it was suicide. We found a needle mark on Malcolm's arm, and the angle suggested it was self-administered. It looks like he may have injected himself with something right before he came in here with the shotgun. We're still waiting on bloodwork and toxicology, but it should tell us exactly what he used."

"I don't know if anyone's searched Dr. Shaw's car yet but that's where I'd be looking next," he added. "He might have left the syringe in there, assuming that's where he used it."

That left me frowning, "I don't recall seeing anything about a car in the reports. I didn't see any keys or a fob with his belongings either."

Emma commented quietly, "If it hasn't been searched yet then I'd like to have a look at it right now. Before anyone else has had a chance to contaminate it."

Feebs looked from me to our seer, then focused on Dr. Murray again. "What did Shaw drive? And where'd he usually park?"

"Malcolm drove an old Toyota wagon," Murray replied. "He's got his own reserved parking space in one of the alleys between the hospital buildings. Head out the mortuary doors, then go right about twenty meters. Dr. Shaw's name will be on the wall over his spot."

I thanked the doctor for his time, then Emma and Feebs and I all headed for the door. Although we all paused to put on our coats before going outside. It only took us a few seconds to find the alley Murray told us about, and sure enough there was an older model light grey wagon parked beneath a sign with Dr. Shaw's name on it.

At that point I couldn't help feeling a little disbelief, that the military had this potential evidence sitting under their noses for almost a full day and hadn't even noticed. Then I reminded myself they were mostly focused on trying to stop another massacre, rather than acting like police detectives and treating yesterday's attack like a typical crime.

We'd only just entered the alley when Emma suddenly motioned Feebs and I to stop. The teen whispered, "There's someone in the drivers seat."

The car was parked such that we were approaching from the left, so the driver was on the opposite side from us. It only took another second or two before we all realized it was Hugh Reeves. It looked like he was still dressed in his green hospital scrubs, like he'd come straight here as soon as the autopsy was finished. And fortunately he didn't seem to have noticed us yet, instead he was focused downwards as if he was looking at his phone.

After a brief pause the three of us started moving forward again, but we were a lot quieter and more wary. The vehicle's engine wasn't running so there was no noise to cover our approach, but on the other hand that meant we didn't have to worry about him suddenly pulling out and running us over either.

Reeves' eyes remained fixed on whatever he was doing as we all moved closer, until we were finally able to get a better look at him through the passenger-side window. Rather than a phone he was clutching a medical syringe in his left hand, tight enough his hand was shaking. His focus was on his right wrist though, where he wore a simple beaded bracelet. I also noted a small digital audio recorder resting on the passenger seat. And through the back windows I could see a blanket spread out in the cargo area, like it was meant to cover something.

"Phoebe?" I whispered. "Can you knock him out?"

The cute redhead didn't waste any time casting her sleep spell, and Dr. Reeves slumped back in the seat without so much as a sound. The hypodermic slipped from his left hand onto the floor of the vehicle, and a moment later we all heard some soft snoring sounds from the doctor.

With the danger seemingly neutralized Emma immediately moved around to the drivers side and opened the door, while I opened up the passenger side.

"Careful," I cautioned her. "Maybe don't touch him, just in case."

Feebs added, "Don't touch that bracelet."

The teen rolled her eyes, "I know what I'm doing."

"There's some seriously bad vibes coming off this thing," she added a moment later. "And by 'bad' I mean it's practically radiating 'not of this Earth' kind of vibes."

She wasn't touching it, but she had one hand above the man's wrist the way someone might check for heat before picking up a cooking pot. She continued doing that as she commented, "I can feel Cindy's protection magic kicking in. There's something about the bracelet... It's literally fascinating, just looking at it hard enough is probably enough to make unprotected people want to try it on."

After that Emma moved on to the needle Reeves had been clutching. She carefully picked it up then held it a moment before reporting, "It's some kind of drug. Probably the same stuff Dr. Shaw used on himself?"

"Reeves was debating whether or not to use it," she added with a sigh. "Either on himself, or maybe head back into the hospital and use it on someone else. Walcott. Yates. Murray. One of us. Or the first soldier he came across, then take the man's gun..."

The goth teen finally set the syringe down on the dash of the car and sighed, "There's a whole lot of anger here. Like pure concentrated rage, but no real reason for it. No specific target either, more like randomly lashing out at whoever's closest."

"You got all that from the needle?" Phoebe asked.

Emma shrugged, "He was holding it pretty tight, and that was only a half minute ago. So the imprint's as fresh as it gets."

"I'm also picking up some of those rage-vibes direct from the bracelet," she added as she focused on Reeves again. She stared at the sleeping doctor for another second or two before stating, "I'm positive that's what's causing it. It's not possession or mind control, and it's not even some kind of spell as such? It's the bracelet itself. Like it's cursed or something."

I frowned, "Are the effects permanent?"

"Too early to say," the teen shrugged. "Should be able to tell once it's off him though."

I considered that for a moment then looked to Feebs and suggested, "Why don't you have a look in the cargo area? See if there's anything else back there."

"I'm going to check this audio recorder," I added as I picked up the small electronic device from the passenger seat.

"Right," the redhead nodded then moved to the back of the vehicle.

The recorder had a pretty straightforward interface, after turning it on I quickly figured out how to access its storage. Recordings were sorted by time and date, with the most recent one being from early yesterday afternoon. I hit play, and a moment later my colleagues and I were listening to what may well have been the last words of Dr. Malcolm Shaw.

"I don't even know why I did it," he mumbled in a hollow, emotionless voice. "My beautiful wife. My only son..."

He trailed off for a moment, but when he started speaking again his voice was filled with nothing but hatred, "I also killed that worthless bitch he married, and the lazy spawn she squeezed out. Now it's time for those idiots I work with. And whatever uniformed goons that moron Walcott left loitering around my mortuary."

I stopped it there and sighed, "I'm sure Dr. Ava will want to hear this."

"Aye," Phoebe agreed from where she was standing by the open cargo area. "Found an empty canvas gun case back here, and a half-empty box of twelve-gauge shells. Oh and a medical kit, probably incase Shaw got called to a scene on his off days?"

"Anyways got some latex gloves so I can safely recover that bracelet," she added as she moved around to the drivers side.

Emma stayed near the redhead to keep an eye on her, while I watched from the passenger side. I also took my phone out, so I could get some pictures of the item in question when Feebs carefully lifted up Dr. Reeves' right hand.

The bracelet looked entirely mundane, if perhaps a little out of place on the unconscious doctor. It was made of round beads, each about eight to ten millimetres in diameter. They were polished to a smooth shiny finish, but it was hard to tell if they were made of glass or some kind of stone. Most of them were mottled black or dark grey, with a few being light grey or cloudy white, and a couple being a dark deep red. There was no clasp or attachment, it turned out they were strung on some sort of elastic wire.

I didn't notice any sort of compulsion from looking at it, but then I had had the benefit of Cindy's protection magic on my ankle. As did my partner.

Phoebe carefully slipped the bracelet down past the sleeping man's hand, and it came free without any resistance. She held it out so all three of us could get a good look at it, and I made sure to get several more pictures. Then she held it in her right hand while using her left to pull off her glove, turning it inside-out in the process. That left the bracelet concealed inside the latex. Feebs repeated the process with the other hand, then tied the wrist off so the bracelet was completely enclosed inside two layers of latex.

"That ought to keep it safe for now," the redhead stated.

I looked to Emma and asked, "What are you getting from Reeves now? Is he ok, or still under its influence?"

It took our seer a few seconds of concentration then she nodded, "He seems ok now, I'm not getting that rage from him anymore."

"So what do we do with this?" Phoebe asked as she stared at the latex bundle in her hand. "We should probably find a better way to secure it. Or do we want to hand it over to Walcott?"

Emma shook her head, "I don't trust the Army with it. Or the government."

I hesitated a moment then nodded, "Agreed. We should probably try and get it back to LIES, incase our boss wants to examine it. Or if not, she can probably destroy it more thoroughly than any of us."

"Works for me," Feebs said as she stuffed the latex bundle into a jacket pocket for now.

I did the same with the digital recorder, then finally called General Walcott to let him know we'd found and apprehended Dr. Reeves. I also told him we'd recovered the missing bracelet, and confirmed it was the cause of the shootings. That led to about ten minutes of hectic activity, with both military and medical people rushing about. It finally ended with the unconscious doctor being loaded onto a gurney and wheeled into the hospital under armed guard.

Emma let Walcott and Yates know that Dr. Reeves would probably be ok now that the bracelet had been removed. That led to a short debate about what was going to happen to the anomalous artefact, but Emma and I made it clear it was going to LIES so Miss Cindy Talbot could deal with it herself.

I figured that was about it for our involvement, but I was wrong. Walcott still wanted Emma to check the rest of his staff, and anyone else who'd come in contact with Shaw in the previous forty-eight hours. That kept the goth teen busy for the next few hours, and while she was doing that Phoebe and I passed the time in the mortuary's meeting room drafting a couple reports. We prepared the first one for Walcott and the Army, and another for our colleagues at LIES. And when that was done I finished my report for the Niwbwrch fairies case as well, since that had been on my to-do list since we left Anglesey.

It wasn't until late afternoon when all three of us were finally finished at Raigmore Hospital. Emma looked and sounded beat as she mumbled, "The Army offered to put me up at some nearby barracks, but I'm hoping you two have a better option?"

Phoebe and I exchanged a look then the redhead nodded, "Aye lass. We're staying at a hotel by the River Ness. Come with us, we'll see about getting you a room there."

Emma collected her backpack then followed us out to our borrowed SUV, and the three of us made our way back to the hotel across from the castle. There was a room available, but when the teen balked at the price Feebs stepped up and took care of it for her. The cute redhead also bought the three of us dinner that evening, at a fancy steak and seafood restaurant a half block away from where we were staying. After all the excitement at the hospital it was a nice relaxing way to round out the day.

There was a little more business we needed to take care of on Saturday, but fortunately it was fairly easy. After breakfast we visited a local shopping venue, where we purchased a small steel lockbox. It was meant for securing cash and other valuables, which made it ideal for temporarily sealing up the cursed bracelet, along with the digital recorder containing Dr. Shaw's last words.

Then after lunch we dropped Emma off at the Inverness Airport. My partner and I had already decided to stick around for another day or two, but our seer was eager to return home and see her girlfriend again. We sent the lockbox back with her, and Emma handed it over to Owen and Grace less than an hour after her plane landed in Cardiff.

Phoebe and I enjoyed another romantic dinner Saturday night, then Sunday we decided to see some of the local sights. We spent the morning wandering around Inverness, and had a closer look at the castle across the river from our hotel. Then in the afternoon we went for a drive to see Loch Ness, and visited Castle Urquhart too. Our day ended with another fancy dinner together, followed by a very nice night taking full advantage of the hotel's king-size bed.

We finally checked out on the morning of December thirtieth, after confirming with General Walcott that the British Army no longer required our services. Instead of rushing back to Aberdeen as fast as possible we opted for a slower, more scenic route that took us through Carrbridge and Grantown-on-Spey, where we stopped for lunch. Afterwards we continued along the northern edge of Cairngorms National Park as we made our way east towards Aberdeen and Feebs' family home.

Our arrival at the Campbell mansion that afternoon was a whole lot less stressful than when we'd first turned up the week before. Phoebe's parents welcomed us in, and along with Duncan the five of us had a nice dinner together that evening. They were naturally curious about our most recent case, so we told them a little about what we'd been up to. Not until after dinner though, we didn't want to risk spoiling anyone's appetite.

Phoebe's parents and brother had all heard about the tragedy in Inverness on the news, but were surprised to learn it had a supernatural origin. They were glad we'd been able to put a stop to it though, and that none of us were harmed while doing so.

We stayed with Feebs' parents through New Years, and in all it was actually a nice visit. Most of our time was spent with Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, and the two of them took the opportunity to get to know their daughter a little better. William even made the comment at one point, that Phoebe was a very different person than the image they'd all had in their heads over the past two and a half decades.

Feebs and I also made a point of talking to her father about Cindy's spell, so he'd know people had started using it for purely medical reasons. I still didn't know what was wrong with Mr. Campbell, but I'd noticed he tended to move rather slowly, and he frequently leaned on walls or furniture for support. He didn't seem to have much of an appetite either, although from what I could see he was trying to hide that fact. At any rate he listened to what we had to say on the subject, and promised to give it some thought.

Meanwhile Phoebe's relationship with Duncan remained somewhat rocky. I got the impression though that her brother's attitude was more out of stubbornness than anything else. Mostly he seemed reluctant to admit he'd been so wrong about his sister. Either way he couldn't deny that his parents had completely accepted Phoebe for who she really was.

New Years Eve was a fairly subdued family affair. The five of us enjoyed a good meal with some fine wine. We spent the rest of the evening sipping whisky in the study and talking about the year we'd just finished, along with our plans for the year ahead. Then at midnight Duncan opened a bottle of Clicquot and we all enjoyed a glass of fancy champagne, before calling it a night.

Feebs and I finally bid her parents and brother goodbye on the morning of January second. Duncan dropped us off at the train station in Aberdeen, and the two of us got settled into another first-class compartment for the long ride back to Cardiff. We mostly took it easy for the first part of the trip, then visited the cafe car for a bit of lunch after we passed the half-way point of the voyage. The two of us had only just got back to our seats again when both our phones buzzed at the same time.

"That can't be good," the cute redhead sighed.

I grimaced as I pulled mine out, "I just hope it's not another crisis somewhere else. I need some time at home."

After a quick look I added, "Not an emergency after all. It's an email from Zoe Zaitsev, to the whole LIES team."

"Anything important? Or can it wait until tomorrow?" Feebs asked.

I shrugged as I skimmed the details, then summed it up for her. "She's sent everyone a copy of Miss Talbot's ebook, so you and everybody else at LIES can learn the same spells I've been studying. Oh and she answered a question I sent our boss last week, regarding our enchanted tattoos."

"Apparently the protection magic is selective," I explained. "Or it senses intention somehow? She doesn't actually explain how it works or how it knows. Basically I was curious how I could practise the stun spell on you without your tattoo stopping me? But you gave me permission, and I didn't have malicious intent, so the tattoo didn't block my spell."

Phoebe frowned for a second then nodded, "Huh. I hadn't even thought of that. Good to know though."

I agreed. Then I looked at the email again and continued, "Zoe also said Cindy confirmed what Emma said about that bracelet. Definitely not of this Earth, it had to have come through the Anomaly. MacDonald must have found it on the estate grounds and decided to keep it for some reason. According to our boss the beads are basically like pure crystallized rage or negativity? Anyways she's dealt with it, so we don't have to worry about it turning up again or hurting anyone else."

"And we're getting all this from Zoe instead of Cindy because apparently our boss is busy working on another project," I added as I got to the end of the email. "Zoe says she'll be our primary contact going forward, instead of her girlfriend."

That was the end of the email, so I put my phone away again. Then the cute redhead and I spent the rest of the train ride cuddling and relaxing together while we watched the scenery go by outside.

~ End of Episode Five ~