Secrets and Lies

"How are you two doing?" Dr. Bishop quietly asked my partner and I after the three of us were seated. "I trust you've both recovered from last night's ordeal?"

Phoebe responded just as softly, "Physically we're both fine. Those enchanted tattoos the boss gave us worked great. Kept the pair of us alive, and quickly healed up the injuries that did get through their protective charms."

"Emotionally though," she grimaced slightly as she glanced at me. "Trillium might need a little more time to recover."

I hated to admit it but she was right. I thought I'd managed ok last night, I kept a fairly cool head and got myself through it. The whisky Feebs gave me when we got back to our hotel suite also helped, at least for a bit. After that was when things really started to hit me.

The nightmares meant I didn't get much rest, despite a solid eight hours in bed. And when I finally gave up on sleep I ended up processing everything I'd just been through. Like having the man who hired me literally one week before try and murder me in cold blood. I recognized the botherhood's 'death spell' based on Phoebe's description.

The fact that Owen was mind controlled at the time only made it worse. It drove home exactly how serious and terrifying the situation really was. The knowledge that this entity could so thoroughly manipulate people, and that it tried to do the same to me, was yet another level of horror.

As was facing the thing in its true form, and finding out how weak and helpless I was in comparison. By all rights I should have died yet again when it flung me through the plate glass wall. In retrospect I was positive my back was broken by the impact, despite the magical protection. That it healed up so quickly and completely was another miracle I had to thank Miss Talbot for.

Perhaps that was the biggest adjustment I was still coming to terms with. Only a few short months had passed since I and the rest of the world first learned that magic was real. And not even a full month had gone by since I found out those two public spells were barely a scratch on the surface of what was really out there.

The entity we'd faced in the North York Moors was scary, but more akin to a wild animal than anything else. And the one in the New Forest felt like a tragedy. Both had been dangerous and deadly, but something about last night was different. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but when I did it made a sort of sense. Last night was when I finally understood that monsters were real, in every sense of the word. And my new job meant I'd probably be dealing with more of them, face to face.

Needless to say, it was a difficult morning with all that going on in my head.

Phoebe helped, it didn't take long for the cute redhead to figure out what I was going through. She'd experienced some similar revelations herself, albeit some twenty-odd years earlier when she and Owen were a couple new recruits with the brotherhood. So she talked me through some things, offered advice, and generally helped get me back to a functional state again.

We'd gotten dressed after that, although both of us focused exclusively on comfort today. Which meant jeans and a t-shirt for Feebs, leggings and a loose top for me. We both wore hoodies and sneakers, and neither of us bothered with make-up. We looked very out of place in the hotel's posh restaurant where we took brunch, but neither of us cared about that in the slightest. Then at long last we were ready to check in with the rest of the team.

Now it was almost noon, and we'd joined Dr. Bishop at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to regroup and compare notes. Specifically we were in a little cafe on the ground floor, as Grace hadn't eaten since tea yesterday. So she had a sandwich in front of her in addition to the extra large black coffee. Feebs and I also had coffees, but passed on the food as we'd just eaten.

After a sip of my beverage I finally spoke up, "I'm good to keep at it. Probably going to need some down-time later though."

"How's Owen doing?" I added. "I take it Alys and Emma are with him?"

The doctor nodded, "They moved him out of Critical Care first thing this morning. Now he's in a normal ward on the fourth floor, the girls are staying there with him. From the sound of it Owen's in the same state Martin was, doctors don't know why he collapsed or why he's unresponsive. They've run all the same sorts of tests, blood, toxicology, MRIs, the works. Needless to say none of the tests found anything wrong with him."

Phoebe winced, "Breaking mind control spells shouldn't leave folks out that long. This thing's control magic must be bloody deep."

"Any word on Martin's condition?" I asked.

Bishop nodded, "Terry contacted me earlier this morning with the good news, Martin woke a couple hours ago. He should be discharged by now, then Terry's going to take him back to Cardiff."

"Did he say if Martin remembers what happened to him?" Feebs asked. "While he was enspelled, I mean?"

The doctor nodded again, "Terry's message was brief but he indicated Martin knew exactly what happened to him. I've asked him to send us a detailed report once he's feeling up to it, but that likely won't happen until after they're back in Wales."

"Hopefully that means Owen should wake some time tomorrow, I think?" she added quietly. "And with luck he'll be able to fill us in on the entity's actions."

"Aye," Phoebe agreed. "That's why I was wondering if Martin remembered."

I sighed, "I'm worried about why it came to Westminster. There's so many big targets here, between the Abby and Parliament and even Buckingham Palace."

"And knowing how this thing works, it just needs to get control over one person in power. Or someone who has access to whatever or whoever its real target is," I added with a frown.

My partner scowled, "No shortage of that round here. That's why I'm hoping Owen will have some insight for us when he wakes."

I suggested, "In the meantime maybe we could try and search his hotel room? It might be a long shot, but it's possible we'll find some clues in there, about what the entity's up to."

"I have Owen's hotel key-card," Dr. Bishop offered. "It was among his belongings when he was admitted. And thanks to Alys and Terry we know what room he was in. If you're heading over there now I'd like to accompany you."

Phoebe nodded, "Sounds good to me."

I hesitated, "Will Alys and Emma be ok here on their own? What if the entity tries to get at Owen again?"

Grace replied, "Emma seemed confident she can handle anything that comes up. She was part of the same Brotherhood organization as Owen and the others, she knows the same magic as the rest of them."

"Ah," I frowned slightly. I recalled Feebs saying there was another trans person at LIES, but she didn't want to out them. Now it seemed like maybe Grace had done that inadvertently.

After another bite of her sandwich Dr. Bishop added, "Incidentally Trillium, it seems your hunch regarding our entity being active elsewhere was correct. Alys and Emma found a trail of thefts and scams that may well give us a history on its earlier activities."

"There was another angelic sighting at St. Mary's church in Staines-upon-Thames back in September," she continued. "It attracted very little media coverage though, as the only witness was an older woman who wasn't active on social media. She passed away two weeks ago, and now the police are investigating both her death and the disappearance of her life savings."

She paused again for a sip of coffee then finished up by saying, "Prior to that there were a series of minor scams along with reports of money and valuables going missing. Those occurred upstream along the Thames. The first of which wasn't far from Abingdon, and occurred in June of this year. Which suggests our entity may well have come through the Anomaly around that time."

"Remind me not to doubt you and your hunches again in the future," Phoebe commented as she flashed me a wry smile.

I nodded quietly, but didn't have anything to say for the moment. And while that news may have told us where the entity came from and what it was doing prior to Canterbury, it didn't really help us figure out its ultimate goals or find where it might be lurking now.

All three of us were quiet for the next few minutes, as the doctor finished her lunch while Phoebe and I sipped our coffees. Then when we were ready to go the three of us headed together out the hospital's main entrance, where we hailed a cab.

"What happened to your fancy SUV?" Grace asked my partner as we climbed into the back of the vehicle.

The redhead pouted, "Tril convinced me to leave it at her place in Croydon. Said it was cheaper and easier than dealing with London parking and the congestion charge and all that."

I suppressed a smile, but after telling the driver our destination my expression became serious again. "I know we've been focused on Owen and Martin the past few days, but I hope that doesn't mean we've forgotten about our other recent case? Is there anything else we can do for Ms. Townsend?"

"I mean about her physical transformation," I added in a half-whisper, "And the entity's implication that they may have impregnated her."

"Yes of course," Dr. Bishop responded. She kept her voice low as she explained, "There was no indication of pregnancy in Ms. Townsend's bloodwork, but it may have been too early to tell. Either way I followed up with her on Tuesday, and explained everything we'd found regarding the nature of the changes she was experiencing."

The doctor continued, "As for how we can help her, I've forwarded her file to Miss Talbot. She's committed to helping everyone who was harmed by the Anomaly, and Ms. Townsend certainly falls into that category. I'm confident our boss will be able to provide whatever remedy or assistance Ms. Townsend requires, or desires."

"That's good to know," I replied. "Thank you doctor."

She nodded once before adding, "I also sent Miss Talbot everything we have on our current case as of late last night. I've not heard anything back yet, but in my experience she can be a little unreliable when it comes to answering her emails. I know she'll get to it when she can, but she seems to be a rather busy young woman."

I had no doubt of that, but didn't have time to reply as our cab had just pulled up in front of the Westminster hotel where last night's excitement took place.

There was already a small construction team at work replacing the large glass panel I'd been flung through. Otherwise there was no other indication that anything of note had happened there recently. And happily no-one seemed to recognize either Phoebe or myself as we headed in through the revolving doors.

The three of us made our way across the lobby to the lifts without incident. There Grace needed to swipe Owen's key card to get access to the top floor, where he was staying in the hotel's 'Presidential Suite'. Apparently the entity's tastes matched those of my partner, at least when it came to accommodations.

There were only four units on that level, and I had no doubt they were all as large and luxurious as the place we were staying just across the river. However Owen's door was the only one with 'do not disturb' and 'no housekeeping' cards on it.

I had Dr. Bishop swipe the card to open it up, but made sure I was the first one in through the door. And I had Phoebe follow me in as back-up, while the doctor waited for us to give her the all-clear.

Fortunately there was nobody inside, and near as I could tell no immediate threats either. On the other hand the place was undeniably a mess. In fact it was almost impressive how 'lived in' it looked, despite Owen and the entity only having been there three days. Discarded clothing lay wrinkled on the floor, there were dirty dishes from room service stacked on the breakfast table, empty bottles and cans pretty much everywhere.

"Oi, have a look at this," Phoebe commented as she headed over towards the bed. "This can't all be Owen's, right? This had to come from multiple victims."

She was referring to the stacks of twenty-pound notes in a little pile at the foot of the unmade bed. There were more banknotes scattered loose among the sheets. And mixed in with the cash I spotted an assortment of jewelry. Rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, in gold and other precious metals, all set with diamonds or emeralds and the likes.

"That's a small fortune," I commented as I stared at it. Then I frowned, "I'm surprised the entity was willing to just run off and leave all this behind."

Feebs shrugged, "The whole area would have been crawling with police and other emergency services last night, especially the hotel. And for all we know the thing might need time to redo its disguise. Or maybe losing its control over Owen hurt it somehow?"

"What do you make of these?" she added a moment later. "They don't fit in with the rest of the loot."

She'd moved next to the bedside table so she could point out a matched set of what looked like thick chunky bracelets. Unlike all the other jewelry these items weren't gold or silver, and there weren't any fancy stones or settings in them. Instead they appeared to be made of something dark and polished, possibly metallic. Or they could have been more like hematite perhaps. Despite their comparatively dull appearance the two bracelets seemed to be about the only thing carefully positioned next to the bed.

"You're right," I frowned. "They definitely stand out next to all the gold and diamonds."

Dr. Bishop spoke up at that point, from where she was standing in the suite's lounge area. "I may have found what we're looking for over here. Maps, an A to Z London, some tourist guides about Westminster, books about Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament... I think this thing's set its sights on either the government or the monarchy."

I frowned as I headed over to the doctor's side, with Phoebe following a few seconds after. Then the three of us started carefully looking through the various books for any further clues, like bookmarks or notes or pretty much anything at all.

After a minute or two I realized something, "Do you suppose our entity has something against technology? I mean why go through the trouble of getting all these books and guides when the information's available much faster and easier online?"

"That's a good point," Dr. Bishop replied with a thoughtful frown. "I haven't seen any sign of Owen's laptop, or his phone."

I pointed out, "Martin said he gave his phone away. Maybe the entity had Owen do the same? I assumed that was to make it harder to track them, but this makes me think it just doesn't like anything high-tech."

"That might explain the cash and jewelry too," Feebs chimed in. "It's obviously ok letting its marks use cards to pay for hotels and meals, but maybe for its own purposes it prefers its loot to be the real thing?"

The conversation came to a sudden end as all three of us were startled by the suite's front door opening up. A pair of metropolitan police constables entered, followed by perhaps the last person I wanted to see just then.

"Detective Sharpe and friends," Inspector Rhodes scowled. "Fancy finding you here, getting in the way of my investigation and contaminating my evidence."

His tone got even harder as he stated, "Put it down, right now. I've a court order giving me access to the suspect's room and everything in it."

"Unlike some detectives," he added as he focused specifically on me, "I made sure to go through proper channels so I wouldn't be stepping on any jurisdictional toes. That's how police work's supposed to be done. Now get out, or I'll arrest the lot of you for obstruction."

Dr. Bishop looked frustrated, and I found myself biting back an angry response as well. Phoebe turned out to be the most level-headed of the three of us, much to my surprise. She gave Grace and I a reassuring look then gestured to the door.

"You heard the inspector," she stated calmly as she got to her feet. "Let's go."

I sighed but stood up, as did the doctor, then the three of us quietly moved past the new arrivals and out into the hall. As soon as we were clear the door was unceremoniously slammed behind us, while Feebs headed over to the lifts and tapped the call button.

The doctor continued to look as frustrated as I felt, but my partner seemed oddly sanguine about the situation. Then once we were all in the lift and heading back down towards the lobby the busty redhead suddenly broke out into a sly grin.

"Do you think Emma might be able to get a read off these?" she asked, as she produced those two dark chunky bracelets from her hoodie pocket. They were partially wrapped in a napkin so she wasn't actually touching them, and I figured that was as important magically as it was for preserving any trace evidence.

"I sure hope so, you little sneak!" I responded with a wide smile.

Then as she tucked them back into her pocket I leaned closer and gave her a quick hug as I added, "Good girl."

Sure enough her cheeks were practically burning as the lift doors opened onto the hotel lobby.

The three of us had just exited the hotel when Dr. Bishop's phone started ringing, so we stopped on the pavement outside while she dug it out of her purse.

She checked the the display then answered, "Hello Alys, what's..."

The doctor's voice trailed off there, and I could make out the sound of the teen's loud excited voice. Her words were coming too fast though for me to understand what she was saying.

"Alys please calm down," Bishop stated with a frown. "We're on our way back to the hospital right now. Just stay with Emma and try not to panic, alright? I'm sure everything will be ok. Please don't get yourself in trouble, that won't help your father at all. We'll see you in a few minutes."

The doctor disconnected the call then gave Phoebe and I another frustrated look, "A pair of police constables just forcibly removed Alys and Emma from Owen's hospital room. Now they're keeping him under guard, apparently they mean to arrest him the moment he's awake."

"That'll be Inspector bloody Rhodes' work," Feebs growled.

I sighed, "Let's just get a cab and get back there."