Secrets and Lies

I looked up from my laptop when the washroom door opened, and watched as Phoebe emerged after finally finishing her bath. The short busty redhead was bundled up in one of the big fluffy white bathrobes the hotel supplied, and near as I could tell, nothing else.

She padded barefoot across the suite towards where I was sitting at the table, but instead of joining me she moved past to the mini fridge. There she helped herself to one of the cans of beer we bought on our way back to the hotel. She cracked it open and had a gulp, then settled into the chair across from me with a wide contented smile on her face.

"Feeling better now?" I asked.

"Much," she replied. After another sip of beer her happy expression faltered though, "I didn't used to appreciate the value of a good long bath, before."

I frowned slightly, "Before...the monster in the moors?"

Phoebe quietly regarded the can she was holding for a moment before nodding slowly, "Aye."

"I used to be a lot more rugged too," she admitted softly. "I might not have liked wandering around woods in the rain any more back then than I did today, but I'd have kept quiet and stoic about it. Instead of whining non-stop and being such a little brat."

She added quickly, "And before you call me out on it, I know being a whiney brat who enjoys being pampered isn't some kind of universal feminine thing. I'm not daft. I'm just saying, apparently this is how I express my femininity. Which is a concept I never thought in a million years I'd ever think, let alone share."

Her confession left me feeling a little worried, both for her and for Jenny Carter. After taking a second or two to decide how to respond I asked, "How do you feel about all that? Are you ok?"

"Aye," she shrugged, "I'm fine."

She had another gulp of beer then added, "And that's the bit that feels strange to me. The fact that I'm not upset, or even uncomfortable with the rest of it. Anyways what're you up to? Looks like work to me."

Both her tone and expression at that last part made it clear she wanted to change the subject, so I went along with it.

"It's work," I confirmed. "I'm writing up all the details of our trek through the woods this afternoon. Especially our encounter with the soldier."

I continued, "I've already had a look at the National Parks website, along with the MoD's public-facing resources. No surprise but I couldn't find anything to suggest the army's restricting access to any part of the New Forest."

Phoebe looked thoughtful as she sipped her beer. Then in what I took to be an attempt at lightening the mood she puffed out her cheeks in an exaggerated pout and pretended to whine, "Well hurry up and finish it then! You promised me room service after my bath, and I'm hungry!"

"Two minutes," I replied as I fought to keep a straight face. "I'm almost done."

"Fiiiine," she huffed dramatically.

It ended up taking me more like ten minutes, because I wanted to be thorough. I remembered Grace had some experience working with the military, so I was careful to describe everything I could remember about the soldier's uniform and insignia. I figured if the army was up to something, maybe Dr. Bishop would recognize what unit or division the corporal was with. Or she might know who to ask.

Not that I truly believed what the corporal said. I wasn't even sure they were really a soldier, for that matter. If not for the fact that they were armed and the implied threat of their hand on the gun I'd have been a lot more insistent about finding out what they were up to. Although that thought led to a question.

"If that corporal had drawn their weapon this afternoon would you have been able to do anything with your magic?" I asked my partner.

"Sure," she nodded. "I've a few spells that would've stopped her in her tracks. Paralysis, stun, that sort of thing."

I frowned, "What about something to figure out what they were up to? Like something to read their thoughts? Or a truth spell maybe?"

The redhead frowned back at me as she had a gulp of her beer. Then she asked, "You remember I'm on probation, right? For using mind magic on you and your inspector friend? I'm not allowed to use any magic now unless it's a life-or-death situation, and then only for defence. So I'd have been able to stop her if she tried to attack us, but that's it."

"Ah," I grimaced. "Of course."

After that it was only another minute or so before I'd finished my report. I gave it a careful read-through, then finally sent it off once I was satisfied. With that out of the way I opened a browser to the hotel's guest portal, and called up the room service menu so we could order dinner.

Half an hour later the two of us were enjoying a rather nice meal together in the comfort of our luxury suite. Phoebe was still dressed in nothing but the oversized terry bath robe, but she seemed genuinely happy munching on her expensive bacon-wrapped filet mignon and sipping her second beer of the evening. Meanwhile I had a really tasty chicken and pasta dish, accompanied by a glass of cola.

"What're your plans for the rest of the evening?" the cute redhead asked after another bite of her steak. "Incase it's not obvious I'm staying in, for a quiet night on the sofa in front of the telly."

I suppressed a smile, "Yeah I didn't figure you'd be up for going clubbing tonight."

"I think I'll turn in early myself," I added. "I'll probably spend a few hours reading though, before I'm ready to sleep."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "Work-related reading?"

"I suppose you could say that," I shrugged. Although to be honest I'd have been excited to keep reading 'How To Use Magic' even if it hadn't come from our boss's boss.

The two of us stuck to our plans after dinner, Phoebe grabbed herself another drink then relaxed on the sofa in front of the large-screen TV. She was watching another football match, and this time it wasn't a recording. Southampton was playing Brighton and Hove Albion, but my partner was considerate enough to keep the volume down to an acceptable level.

Meanwhile I went into the bathroom and got ready for bed, then relaxed in my big queen-size bed so I could continue learning about magic. And after this afternoon's encounter, my focus was very much on that 'truth spell'. According to the information in the text, it would allow the user to 'see the truth' of a question, situation, or conversation. Which admittedly was kind of vague, but I was positive it would have helped figure out what Corporal Radley was really up to today.

Once again as soon as I got into the book I completely lost track of time. I did my best to learn the new spell, but unlike the first one I couldn't really test or practise it without having someone to question. I probably could have enlisted Phoebe's help for that, or at least asked if she'd mind volunteering. Except the only sorts of questions I could think of asking her were all fairly personal, and I didn't want to take advantage of her like that. And anyways she was busy watching her match, I didn't want to interrupt that.

I glanced over in her direction anyways, and that's when I realized the football was long since over. The busty redhead had a movie or something on the TV, but her attention was mostly on her phone. From the look of it she was probably playing a game, based on her body language and the way she was rapidly tapping and swiping the screen.

After watching for a few seconds I finally asked, "How was the match? Who won?"

"It was a draw," she responded without looking up from her phone. "How's the -"

Just then my phone suddenly rang, surprising us both. After a quick glance at the screen I answered, "Hello Dr. Bishop. Is everything ok?"

The doctor sounded very focused as she responded, "I'm sorry for calling so late, but I just finished going over your report and didn't want to wait until morning."

Hearing that I motioned for Phoebe to mute the TV, then I put the call on speakerphone. "That sounds serious. Something in my report caught your eye?"

"I've just sent you a file photo of Farah Radley," Grace stated. "I need you and Phoebe to have a look at it, I need to know if this is the person you encountered in the woods today."

I grimaced as I got up out of bed, "Just give us a moment please doctor."

Both Phoebe and I moved to the table, where I set down my phone and fired up my laptop. I couldn't help feeling a bit self-conscious about the whole situation. I was dressed in nothing but a nightshirt while my partner was wrapped in a fluffy bath robe. And it only got worse as the busty redhead shifted her chair closer so she was right next to me.

Obviously her intention was to get a better look at my computer, but the motion inadvertently brought our thighs together and our bare knees touched. At least I was pretty sure she hadn't intended that, based on how her cheeks were suddenly on fire as she quickly shifted so her legs were angled away from mine.

"Ok here we go," I said as I tried to focus on the business at hand. I opened the message from Grace then frowned, "Nope that's not the person we saw in the woods. Not even close."

My partner agreed, "This gal might be the same height, but her face is totally different. Same with her eyes, and hair."

The image depicted a tall slim brunette in a military dress uniform. She had short black hair and bright green eyes. Her skin was very fair, and she wore a proud friendly smile for the photograph.

"How did you find this picture so quickly?" I asked. "And what made you think the 'F. Radley' we encountered might have been this Farah?"

Dr. Bishop replied, "Your description was very thorough Trillium. I recognized the unit number you said was on her uniform."

"Corporal Farah Radley was with the group assigned to keep the Anomaly secured," she continued. Her voice took on a melancholy tone though as she explained, "Farah vanished one night whilst on sentry duty. I double-checked my notes, she was last seen around twenty-two-hundred hours on the evening of Saturday July twentieth. Some time after that she vanished without a trace."

My partner frowned, "That sounds like it might line up with the rest of our incidents?"

"It does," Grace stated. "The full moon reached its peak in the early hours of the twenty-first. So Corporal Radley may have been your target's first victim."

I gave Phoebe a worried look, "Which means the person we encountered in the woods today was probably our suspect."

"Odds are," the redhead agreed. Then she frowned, "Except if that was our killer, why'd she shoo us away? Why not attack?"

"For one thing the next full moon isn't for another two weeks," I pointed out. "Attacking us today would have gone against the pattern. And we were together, so far it sounds like all the victims were caught out alone."

Phoebe nodded once, "Aye, true enough."

Dr. Bishop took over again, "There's something else you need to know. I got the results back from Ms. Townsend's lab tests. There was non-human DNA in her blood, but it wasn't canine, or lupine. It wasn't even canid in origin. The closest thing on file was from the hyaenidae family."

My eyebrows shot up, "She's got hyena DNA in her blood?"

"No," the doctor stated. "I said that was the closest we could find. We don't have anything on file which directly matches the DNA we found in her samples."

She continued, "Combining hyaenid-like DNA with Ms. Townsend's description of her attacker's fur colour and pattern, it seems like we might be looking for something related to the spotted hyena."

My partner scoffed, "You're not going to tell me that woman we met in the woods today is some sort of were-hyena are you?"

Grace responded calmly, "Of course not. At this point we have no idea what the entity is. However, I will note that were-hyenas do appear in the folklore of several African cultures. The stories vary widely, but some describe hyenas who can appear human at will. And others concern unfortunate humans who were subsequently turned."

"What about Ms. Townsend's other physical changes?" I asked. "She's worried about becoming more masculine, did you find anything like that? Higher T levels perhaps?"

The doctor replied, "Not as such. However I will note that in spotted hyenas the females are larger and more dominant than the males, and their society is matriarchal. They also have certain sexual traits that might be considered unusual."

"Wait are those the ones where the girls all have penises?" Phoebe interjected with a wry grin. "Makes you wonder what they even need blokes for."

Dr. Bishop stated firmly, "This is not the time for jokes Miss Campbell. I'm sure Ms. Townsend would agree this is no laughing matter."

"Pun not intended I'm sure," the redhead immediately retorted. "That's another thing hyenas are known for, right? The laughter?"

I gave her a hard look before focusing on my phone again, "So what do want us to do Dr. Bishop?"

She stated, "This entity poses a clear danger to the public, at least around the full moons. According to your report it spoke to you during your encounter this afternoon, so it's possible it can be reasoned with. Trillium, Phoebe, I'd like you two to return to that location. Try and locate the individual, and try to initiate communications with them. Ideally we're going to have to apprehend it, as it's responsible for a few deaths and disappearances. Bring it in for proper questioning and processing, and we'll take it from there."

"Phoebe," the doctor continued, "You are authorized to use magic as you see fit during the encounter. Remember our mandate though. Public safety is paramount, and a peaceful outcome is preferred. It spoke in English so it's probably sapient, or at least intelligent. If necessary you may incapacitate or magically restrain it, then contact me or Miss Talbot."

"Destruction of intelligent or sapient entities is a last resort," she added. "And needless to say, be careful."

There was a grim smile on my partner's face as she nodded, "Yes ma'am. Gloves off, but I'll exercise restraint. And don't worry, I'm not likely to forget our new mandates and protocols. Not gonna make that mistake twice in a row."

Hearing all that left me feeling a little out of my depth, considering my magical expertise consisted of a harmless light spell and an untested truth spell. For that matter it was literally only my third day on the job. Still, I'd already survived one murderous supernatural entity in Yorkshire. And our first run-in with this one was tense but ended peacefully enough.

"Alright doctor," I finally responded. "We'll aim to be out there for early afternoon tomorrow. And we'll let you know how it goes."

Grace thanked us both, then we ended the call.

"Early afternoon?" Phoebe asked with a cocked eyebrow, while I shut down my laptop. "Not first thing in the morning? Or drop everything and race back there right now?"

I shrugged, "I'd rather we both got a decent night's sleep and a proper breakfast first. This thing's been lurking around the same general area for the past few months, so it probably isn't going anywhere. Unless we spooked it this afternoon, in which case it's long gone already. Most of all though, you and I will need to coordinate how we're going to handle things when we do track them down again."

The redhead smiled, "Aye. Good to know you're not the sort to rush in unprepared."

"I might be new to this job but I do have thirteen years with the Met," I reminded her as I got to my feet. "You don't make detective constable without learning a few things along the way."

Then as I headed back to my bed I suggested, "Anyways let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's probably going to be a busy day."