Secrets and Lies

"We'll probably head back to the hospital again later this morning," I explained, "Although I'm not sure the doctors will even let us near him. Perhaps once he's regained consciousness he can tell them himself that we're friends and colleagues. Assuming he's ok, that is."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "He'll be fine. Like I said, it's just a reaction to having the mind control removed. Like ripping a bandage off, sometimes it stings a bit. And in this case the spells controlling him must have been in there pretty deep. Normally I'd only expect him to be out for a few minutes. Not hours, or days."

I gave the redhead a hard look as I stated, "I wish you'd told me in advance that dispelling the control could lead to that sort of reaction. We could have tried to get him somewhere private before-hand. It would have saved us a hell of a lot of trouble."

She cringed under my glare and mumbled, "I said I was sorry."

"If nothing else at least we could have asked him about Owen first," I added. "He might have been able point us in the right direction."

My partner cringed a little more, but this time she stayed quiet.

Finally I turned my attention back to my phone and sighed, "So unfortunately we don't have any more news yet. About the only thing we can say for sure is Owen wasn't at the shelter with Martin, and there was nothing to suggest he'd ever been there. We're hoping once Smith wakes up he'll be able to tell us exactly what happened, to both him and Owen."

"Thank you Trillium," Dr. Bishop responded. She sounded both weary and stressed, which didn't surprise me. I had a feeling she'd probably had a long night after receiving our preliminary report late yesterday evening.

I'd have contacted Grace and the others much sooner, but between Smith's loud scream of pain and the fact that he collapsed unconscious afterwards, my partner and I ended up spending the rest of our day getting very well acquainted with several members of the local police force. About the only thing that kept the two of us from being charged with something was my newly-minted warrant card checked out. And while that kept Phoebe and I out of handcuffs it couldn't save us from having to answer a whole afternoon's worth of questions.

Meanwhile Martin was rushed by ambulance to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. There he'd undergone everything from x-rays and MRI scans to blood tests and toxicology screens, while the doctors tried to figure out what caused him to collapse. And why he remained unconscious and completely unresponsive, despite all attempts to wake him.

Now it was just past ten Wednesday morning, and we'd joined the remaining LIES staff on another conference call.

"I've been able to access the hospital database," Terry spoke up at that point. If he was worried about his friend he kept it well hidden as he continued, "Martin still hasn't woken up yet. He's being kept in Critical Care for now, mostly because they haven't been able to figure out what's actually wrong with him. So they're monitoring him, but he's not on any life support or anything like that."

Phoebe rolled her eyes again as she repeated herself, "That's because there's nothing wrong with him. Nothing medical anyways. It's just a little metaphysical whiplash from having the control spells broken."

"I sure hope you're right," Terry sighed.

I gave the redhead another look before asking, "Has anyone had a chance to try and access the GPS tracker on Owen's Range Rover?"

"Yes!" Alys half-shouted into her phone, and from her impatient excited tone I could almost picture the teen looking frustrated from having to wait while the rest of us discussed Smith's condition. "Emma and I found where my dad hid all his passwords and other important information! So we logged on to his account and downloaded all the tracking info for the past three days. We got into his banking records too, and according to all that he's been in London since late Sunday!"

The witchy goth took over, "It looks like he left Canterbury at half past eight Sunday evening. He arrived in Westminster a few hours later, and about thirty minutes before midnight he checked in to a very expensive hotel."

Phoebe asked, "How do you know about the hotel?"

Alys replied, "Dad used his credit card. He's used it a few more times since then, running up some really big bills at different restaurants."

"Please tell me you're going there now?" she added. "You've found Martin, he's going to be ok, the hospital will look after him. Now you have to find my dad!"

My partner and I shared a glance, I could tell she was thinking the same thing as me. It looked like she didn't want to raise the point though, which left it up to me.

So I braced myself and asked, "Do we know for sure your father's really in London? As opposed to someone else there using his car and credit card? Martin specifically told us he gave away his phone, his clothes, and his money. Your dad may have done the same. We don't want to rush off to London only to find out Owen's actually still here in Canterbury."

"But what if he's not?" Alys responded in a pleading tone. "We have to do something, we've got to find him! Please Trillium! He's my dad, I can't lose him!"

Dr. Bishop spoke up, "Terry is there any chance you can access the Met's CCTV cameras? Or maybe there's security cameras at the hotel or restaurants where Owen's card was used? We need to know if that's really him."

"I'm on it," the tech guy stated. "Alys, Emma, can you send me what you got from his GPS? And the credit card transactions? That'll help narrow it down, if I know exactly where and when to look."

Alys replied, "Of course! Sending them right now!"

Grace took over there, "Trillium, Phoebe, is there anything else you have for us this morning?"

"Not really," my partner shook her head.

I hesitated a moment before adding, "My gut's still telling me this is some sort of con job. The fact that Smith was under a mind control spell, and that it was disguised as some sort of religious epiphany only makes me even more sure of it."

"To what end?" Bishop asked. "How does it benefit a potential criminal if their victims are giving their money away to charities or random strangers?"

I shook my head, "I don't know yet. It's possible that's their goal? Maybe this is the work of some sort of modern-day magical Robbin Hood. Something tells me that's not the case though. And we only have Martin's word for what he did with the cash after he withdrew it. Meanwhile it feels like there's a pattern emerging, with expensive hotels and fine dining."

"I know you're busy Terry," I added, "But after you've finished looking into the CCTV footage and card transactions maybe you can do a search for other similar reports in the south east? Or perhaps even the whole country? If this is a con, I don't think it's their first. It's too sophisticated, whoever's behind this has had time to perfect their craft."

Rather than our tech guy it was Emma who responded, "Me and Alys can do that. We can search news sites and social media for any talk of scams or ripoff artists in the past year or so."

"Alright," Dr. Bishop stated. "Terry you're trying to confirm whether or not Owen's in London, Alys and Emma you two are looking for similar situations elsewhere in the country. Trillium, Phoebe, keep us informed on Martin's status. And in the meantime, see if you can find anything to suggest whether or not Owen's still there in Canterbury."

Then she added, "I'm going to make some enquiries of my own. There's a few people I can talk to, who may be able to provide some additional insight or information."

That was the end of the meeting, so I tapped my phone to leave the call then tucked it into my hoodie pocket for now.

"Back to the hospital then?" Phoebe asked with a frown.

I shrugged, "Unless you've got a better idea?"

She pointed out, "Now you're a cop again, we could go question the staff at the hotel Owen and Martin were staying at. It's a long shot, but if he's not in London he might still be there. Or they might at least be able to confirm when he left."

"That's a very good idea," I smiled.

We both took a few minutes to ensure we were dressed at least somewhat professionally, since I'd be playing the 'police card' again. Then the two of us set out on foot, as it was barely a block or two away from the place we were staying.

"Oh bloody hell," Phoebe muttered under her breath as soon as we rounded the corner.

"Damn," I frowned. "I sure hope that's not..."

There were two Kent Police cars parked in front of the other hotel, and in the adjoining parking lot sat a dark van bearing the official markings of the local M.E.'s office.

"Try and keep calm ok?" I quietly told my partner as the two of us approached the hotel entrance. "Let's not jump to any conclusions."

Phoebe looked worried but she nodded once, "Aye, I know. It might not be him. But if it is..."

Her voice trailed off as the two of us stepped into the lobby, where we found a pair of Kent Police constables standing around looking unfriendly. The hotel manager was seated behind his desk, and from the expression on his face I knew he was having a very bad day. I braced myself for what I assumed would be a difficult conversation, but before I even got a chance to introduce myself a familiar voice spoke up from the hallway that led to some of the rooms.

"I was wondering how long it'd take you two to show up," Inspector Michael Rhodes stated with a smug self-satisfied look on his face. "Incase it's not clear, this is a crime scene. And it's my jurisdiction."

Rhodes was the guy we'd spent most of our time with the previous afternoon, during our visit to the local police station. He was a burly fellow with brown watery eyes and greying brown hair. That was already thin enough for a comb-over, despite him only looking to be in his mid forties. He was roughly the same height as myself, but probably more than half again as heavy. Some of that was muscle, but he did carry some obvious weight around his mid-section.

Running into him again here meant our day was likely about to shift from bad to worse. Rhodes seemed almost eager to arrest Phoebe and I for assault yesterday, after emergency services attended the volunteer shelter to deal with Martin's sudden and loud collapse.

It wasn't until after I identified myself as a detective that the inspector had us taken to the station, where I was positive he tried his best to dismiss my ID as fake. When my background checked out, courtesy of Miss Cindy Talbot, Rhodes apparently tried to get me booked for misconduct. Fortunately there was no evidence that either Phoebe or I laid a hand on Martin, because we hadn't.

I braced myself for another confrontation, while doing my best to maintain a calm professional demeanour. "Good morning Inspector Rhodes, nice to see you again. I'm glad to see you and your people are already ontop of things here."

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind letting us know what you've found?" I added with a polite smile. "A little friendly inter-jurisdictional cooperation would save us all a great deal of time and trouble."

From the look in his eyes I was positive he was weighing the pros and cons of that. Like how much inconvenience it might cause him later on if he refused, versus how much joy he might get right now by making things difficult for Phoebe and I. It was only a second or two before he decided to cooperate. Not for any altruistic reasons though, it immediately became clear he simply wanted to gloat. And perhaps watch us squirm a bit.

"Alright Sharpe," he responded with a grim smile. "Seems during all our time together yesterday, you neglected to mention the other missing man you were looking for was booked into this hotel here. I did some digging though, and it's a good thing I did. Came round here first thing this morning, and the manager Mr. Lawrence there confirmed your missing Mr. Powell hadn't checked out yet."

I could feel a cold heavy weight settling in my gut while Rhodes dragged out his story. And Phoebe looked like she was growing impatient for the inspector to get to the point while at the same time dreading what he was going to say when he finally got there.

Meanwhile Rhodes was watching us both fairly closely, I was sure he knew how we were both feeling as he continued speaking. "So Mr. Lawrence and I went to your man's room and used the manager's key to override the door. And that's where we found the body. So this is now a murder investigation. More specifically, it's my murder investigation. My city, my jurisdiction, my case."

"How did he die?" Phoebe asked quietly. "And do you need someone to identify the body? I've known Owen for years, he and I go way back."

The inspector actually smiled at that point, and I was almost worried Phoebe might try and deck him for that. Or worse, that she might lose her temper and resort to magic. Fortunately the busty redhead did neither, she just quietly stared at the man and waited for his reply.

Rhodes sounded smug again when he finally responded, "Oh my mistake, I forgot to clarify that little detail. Your man Powell wasn't the victim, he's my number-one suspect. Wanted for the murders of two local men, Norman White and Iain Bray."

My partner let out a huge sigh of relief at that news. In fact as soon as she knew Owen wasn't dead it seemed like Phoebe was eager to turn around and leave, but I had another question for the inspector.

"So you found White's body in Owen Powell's hotel room?" I asked, since that was the obvious implication. My frown grew deeper as I added, "What was the cause of death? And how are you connecting Powell to Bray's death?"

"You'll have to go through formal channels if you want those sorts of details," Rhodes replied with another smug grin.

His features hardened a moment later as he added, "Now I'm going to have to ask you girls to move along. The crime scene techs will be here shortly, and they'll need their space."

I stared at him for a second before responding, "Of course. Thank you for your time, inspector."

"Yeah. Thanks," Phoebe mumbled as she turned and started for the door while I followed a few steps behind her.

Outside we started making our way towards the carpark where we'd left her SUV. And as we walked my partner commented quietly, "Owen didn't kill those guys. Or if he did, there won't be any way to prove it."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked just as softly.

She glanced up at me then explained, "All us ex-Brotherhood operatives know how to kill without a trace. It's a spell, it wraps magic around the victim's heart and squeezes till it stops beating. There's no external marks or injuries, no need to even touch the victim. Basically mimics heart failure or a heart attack."

"So if Owen did kill those blokes then there'll be no evidence they were even murdered," she added. "And if there is, then he didn't do it. Because he knows that spell same as I do."

I frowned as that sank in, "That's what Martin used in Yorkshire? To kill the monster, after I got you and Carter away from it?"

"Aye," she nodded. "You definitely want a clear line of sight for that one. If anyone else is too close -"

That's when my phone started ringing, and after a quick look at it I swiped the screen to answer. "Hello Terry, what have you got for us?"

"Owen's in London," he announced. "It's definitely him, got him on hotel security video from late Sunday night."

That was all I needed to hear, "Great work! Can you let Alys and Grace know we'll be heading there right now? Thanks Terry, talk later."

"Owen's in London," I told Phoebe as I ended the call. Then I gestured in the direction of our hotel and stated, "Let's pack up. I'd like to be checked out and on the road before noon."