Secrets and Lies

"Bloody hell," Feebs frowned at her phone. "Most of this is in Welsh. How are we supposed to read it?"

She'd barely had a chance to start looking at hotels on Anglesey when we received an email from Alys, containing the dossier she and Emma put together for our newest assignment. And in a twist we all should have seen coming, the case located in the part of Wales with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers meant a lot of the information was going to be in Welsh. Luckily I had a solution.

"We could switch places? You drive, I'll read the file?" I suggested.

My partner pouted, "I was having fun pretending you were my chauffeur."

"Sorry cutie," I smiled. "It's only fair though. You're my hot young assistant, remember? It makes sense you'd also be my driver. As lead agent I'll read the important documents."

Before she could argue I decided, "Why don't you go back to looking at hotels for now? We'll stop at the next village for a spot of lunch, then you can take over behind the wheel while I focus on the important high-level stuff."

"Fine," the busty redhead sighed as she focused on her phone again.

She'd barely had time to resume her search though when we reached the next village. That turned out to be a nice market town, and soon enough we'd found a pub that looked good. I got another opportunity to enjoy my assistant's pout when I reminded her she couldn't have ale with her meal, since she'd be driving afterwards. I abstained too, so we both just drank soda with our lunch. That was a small steak pie for Feebs, and a burger for me.

Phoebe continued her search for accommodations while we ate, and even though she eventually found something she still came up with a reason to complain as we returned to her SUV.

"It's not fair," she whined as the two of us climbed inside. "I'm finally getting somewhere with you, but instead of celebrating we're heading to the middle of nowhere. No decent hotels. No luxury resorts. No room service."

I smirked as we both took a moment to adjust our seats, since I was on the passenger side this time while she was behind the wheel. "You'll live. The only other options I saw around there were campgrounds and caravan parks. Anyways the little cottage looked nice and cosy."

She shook her head, "The little cottage was just a glorified caravan. I rented us the bigger one. It's got a proper bathtub as well as a shower. Plus there's a wood stove, we'll probably appreciate that considering it's the middle of December."

"That wasn't a cottage, it's a house!" I laughed. "With three bedrooms!"

Phoebe shrugged as we pulled out onto the road, "It was only seven hundred pounds for five days, and we're lucky there was a cancellation or it wouldn't have been available at all."

I rolled my eyes then gestured, "Just focus on the road please, I'd like to get there in one piece. I'll start translating Alys's notes."

It only took a moment to open the email on my phone, but as soon as I started reading it my expression shifted to a frown.

"Feebs did you even read this email?" I asked. "Or did you just skip straight to the links and attachments?"

The redhead shrugged, "I looked at the important stuff. Why?"

I gave her a look, not that she could see it since she was focused on the road, "Alys included a detailed summary, probably because she assumed neither of us could read Welsh."

"Oh," I added with another frown. "It looks like between her and Emma and Terry they've managed to dox our witness. That'll make it easier to find and interview them in person. It's also kind of creepy though, since it seems our witness is just a teen..."

My voice trailed off there as I continued reading the email, which included some of Alys' own interpretations. By the time I'd got to the end I decided I needed to review the source material for myself. Not that I doubted her conclusions, but I figured a second opinion wouldn't hurt.

So I followed the link to the witness's social media account. As I scrolled back through six or seven months' worth of posts I noticed most of them were written in Welsh, with maybe a quarter being in English.

"Oi," Feebs spoke up after a few minutes of silence. "You're supposed to be reading that out loud, remember?"

I smiled, "Trust me, you don't need to hear every single thing some depressed seventeen year old egg shared on social media."

The redhead frowned, "How do you know they're depressed?"

"They pretty much say so in a few of their posts," I replied. "Plus their screen name is Seren Isel, which I think means 'star of sadness'. And if they're an egg then that could certainly lead to depression, or contribute to it."

Phoebe was still frowning as she asked, "What does egg mean in this context?"

"Oh," I grimaced. "We use it to refer to someone who's trans but hasn't figured themself out yet? And when they do figure it out we refer to that as hatching."

I continued, "Like for example I'd say I was an egg up until this past summer. I had lots of 'eggy thoughts', like how I was envious of women, or how I wished I could be trans, or wished I'd been born a girl."

"Sometimes 'eggy logic' is kind of baffling," I admitted with a slight cringe. "Anyways the point is, Alys suspects our witness is a trans girl but might not be aware of that yet. Or if they are, then they're staying closeted. Which is also sadly relatable. Coming out can be terrifying. Or in some situations it can even be dangerous."

My cute driver was quiet for the next few seconds as she seemed to be considering all that. Then just as I started reading again she spoke up once more, "So how'd you hatch? If you don't mind sharing, that is?"

"And what d'you mean by 'eggy logic'?" she added.

I took a deep breath before answering, "For me it wasn't until after Miss Talbot's spell started making the news over the summer. Seeing all those people getting their miracle transitions and becoming who they were meant to be, seeing how happy they all were, that got me thinking."

"Up until that point I barely even knew what being trans really meant," I explained. "Thanks to how I was raised and my line of work. There's a reason cops aren't welcome at pride, you know? Anyways that spell was the catalyst, I started looking into it and educating myself. And I found a lot of the experiences trans women described were highly relatable."

"Eggy logic is like reading a dozen trans women's experiences about how using that spell saved their lives, relating to every last one of them, then thinking something stupid like 'I wish I was trans so I could experience post-transition euphoria just like those people,'" I commented with a self-deprecating laugh.

"Fortunately that phase didn't last too long for me," I continued as my tone became more serious again. "By the end of August I'd accepted that I was really a woman, but it still took me another month to make the decision. I knew I'd be risking my career and my relationship with my family, but it was that or be miserable for the rest of my life. Then in October I used Cindy's spell, and now here I am."

Feebs nodded slowly, she was still focused on the road but had a thoughtful frown on her face. "I imagine the Brotherhood was similar to the police in that respect. No tolerance for any of that so-called alternative lifestyle nonsense."

"The military too for that matter," she added with a frown. "Makes me wonder about our new Dr. Ava, if she's gone through something similar?"

Before I could comment the redhead sighed, "Anyways I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I can sort of relate, my folks don't want anything to do with 'the queers' as they call them. Not that they'd know the first thing about being queer, nor do they have any interest in finding out either."

I gave her a compassionate look, "That's why you haven't told them about your new situation?"

"Aye, that's one reason," she nodded. "If they found out I'd become a girl they'd... Well I don't know what they'd think to be honest. Either way though, there's a good chance they'd fully disown me."

"Then I might have to start working for a living," she added with a self-deprecating laugh of her own.

Before things got too awkward or serious she changed the subject, "Anyways you should get back to your important research. I'll keep my eyes on the road. Only three and a quarter more hours to go yet."

I nodded slowly, "Alright Feebs. But if you want to talk more about this sort of thing I'm here for you."

She made a noncommittal 'mmm' sound, but otherwise remained quiet. So I finally turned my attention back to my phone, and our witness's social media feed. I soon realized though that the majority of their posts had nothing to do with fairies or the supernatural. Instead they talked about their favourite music and shows, griped about school and chores, and complained about their parents.

As I continued working my way through their posting history a few details stood out. First off most of their posts were in Welsh, it was mainly the fairy-related ones they'd done in English. Which made me think Cymraeg might be their first language, or the one they were more comfortable with. Posting the fairy content in English made sense though, assuming they wanted it to reach a wider audience. Which might suggest they were seeking attention.

Although if that was the case it wasn't working, because the next thing I noticed was they didn't actually have very many followers. And while the ones they did have seemed to be there for the supernatural content, most of them came across as skeptical, with a few being outright hostile.

The third thing was that our witness didn't appear to have a lot of friends. Or if they did, they weren't interacting with those friends online. Or at least not through this account. And finally, on a positive note they seemed to have a good relationship with their sister, although she tended to be more focused on her education. And near as I could tell, the sister didn't actually follow the witness's social media account either.

Of course the reason I was reading their feed in the first place was for the fairy sightings, and those were definitely interesting. I also made sure to share those ones with Phoebe, since that was the point of us switching seats.

The sightings began last June with a few excited posts describing what they'd seen. Then in July and August came a handful of blurry photos, that like Alys said could have been anything really. The sightings continued into the autumn, and the posts described how Seren gradually made friends with the fairies.

While they were careful not to give a specific location, they did say the fairies tended to favour two areas. The first was 'around a pond', and the other was 'by the ruins in the forest'. The clear pictures were posted more recently, and they really were quite remarkable. I found myself studying the tiny fae girls they depicted.

Like Alys and Emma said, they were barely a hand's width tall. The pictures rarely depicted more than one at a time, but I was sure there were at least three in total. They all had fair skin, two had blonde hair while another was brunette. They wore what looked to be fine white dresses, and their wings were like something off a dragonfly.

I also checked some of the replies to our witness's posts, especially the photos. Those garnered the most responses, but the majority dismissed the pictures as fake. A number of them even referred to some other apparently well-known hoax, although I hadn't heard of it myself.

By the time I was done reading Seren's feed I was convinced of two things. First off, I agreed with Alys about our witness. They were either an egg, or they'd already hatched but were in the closet. And second, I was fairly sure they believed they were in contact with actual fairies. That didn't mean it wasn't a hoax, but if it was then I was confident our witness wasn't behind it.

"So what d'you think?" Phoebe asked after I put my phone away. "Legitimate supernatural activity, or lonely kid looking for attention?"

I frowned, "Like Alys said up front I think our witness is trans, either an egg or in the closet. And while they do seem kind of depressed and lonely, I don't think they're doing this for attention. I think they truly believe they're in contact with fairies. Those recent photos certainly look convincing, I can see why Alys is sold on it."

"Most of the replies and comments I saw are a lot less positive," I added. "Most of them seem to think it's all a hoax and the pictures are fake. A few of them even compared it to what they said was a similar example. Are you familiar with the Cottingley Fairies?"

The redhead nodded, "Aye. That was over a hundred years ago. Couple girls as I recall, borrowed their father's camera equipment and got pictures of fairies. There was a lot of media interest at the time, some people took it as proof of the supernatural."

I frowned, "Did that actually happen? I mean, were there really fairies caught on film a hundred years ago? Or was it a hoax?"

"Depends who you talk to," Feebs shrugged. "I think the girls themselves eventually admitted they'd faked the pictures? Although they maintained they really did see fairies."

After a pause she grimaced, "Mind you that's exactly the sort of situation the Brotherhood would have stuck their noses into. Wouldn't have been hard to 'convince' the witnesses to confess to a hoax. Discrediting the pictures wouldn't be that difficult either. As for the actual fairies... If they were real then we can only hope they kept out of the Brotherhood's clutches."

My frown grew a little deeper at that, and I sighed. "If this sighting turns out to be real I hope these fairies are friendly. I feel like we've had more than enough death and monsters this past month."

"Aye," my partner nodded slowly. "We'll see."

We were both quiet after that, and I ended up just enjoying the scenery as we continued our way north. And it was a beautiful drive.

After the valleys of Merthyr Tydfil we crossed through Bannau Brycheiniog National Park then continued north past more hills and farmland, lakes and mountains, pretty much straight up through the middle of Wales. Around Ffestiniog we left the A470 for the A487 and detoured west around Yr Wyddia, otherwise known as Mount Snowdon, before turning north again.

Phoebe and I talked on and off throughout the drive, but not just about work. We discussed the countryside, and we also got to know each other a little better. I found out she grew up in Aberdeen, and that her parents and older brother still lived there. Her sister moved to London though, where she worked at one of the teaching hospitals.

I still wasn't ready to go into too many details about my own family situation, but I did share that I originally lived in London, before ending up with my aunt and uncle in Manchester. I also let slip that I used to have a brother, but quickly changed the subject after that.

Feebs looked curious but instead of asking for more details she just gave me a compassionate look then focused on the road again. It was already getting dark out by that point, and we still had a good hour to go yet.

We were quiet again after that, as our path gradually turned northeast towards Bangor and the bridge that would get us to Anglesey. Except that was still several kilometres away when my partner took an unexpected turn out of a roundabout and left the A487 heading almost due north.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "This can't be a shortcut. Unless I really messed up my geography there's only two bridges across the Menai Strait, and neither of them are around here."

Phoebe replied, "No room service at the cottage, remember? And I've no idea if we'll find any decent restaurants around there either. So I figured we'd stop in Caernarfon to stock up on groceries. And maybe take an early supper, if we find something nice?"

"Ah," I smiled. "Very well then driver, carry on."

She rolled her eyes, but I noticed the little grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

Our drive through the town revealed a large number of fish and chip shops, and almost as many curry houses. In the end though Phoebe selected another pub for our evening meal. It was a nice place, practically in the shadow of Caernarfon Castle, and with a view of the water. In fact Feebs made the point we were probably only two or three kilometres away from our destination, if we could travel directly across the strait.

Dinner was tasty, I tried the fish and chips while my partner opted for roast lamb and mash. She also insisted on a pint of ale with her meal, which meant I'd be taking over the driving duties again for the last leg of our trip.

We made a few more stops after leaving the pub, to stock up on all the groceries and drinks we might need over the next five days, then at long last we got back under way again. Thanks to our various delays and detours it was past seven at night when we took the Britannia Bridge over the strait, and much too dark out to enjoy any scenery.

When we passed Llanfairpwll Phoebe pulled out her phone and said, "I'd better ring Mrs. Morgan and let her know we're almost there. She'll want to meet us at the cottage, to welcome us and give us the keys and such."

"That's who we're renting from?" I asked. "Her first name wouldn't happen to be Julie, would it?"

The redhead nodded. "Aye, that's the one. D'you know her?"

I shook my head, "You really didn't read Alys's email at all did you? Julie and Trefor Morgan are Seren's parents."

Feebs was quiet for a second or two before shrugging, "Convenient coincidence. And it means we won't have any trouble finding our witness."

"Right," I grimaced. "Let's not make things immediately awkward by interrogating her about her youngest child possibly seeing fairies flying around. Maybe save those conversations for tomorrow, or Wednesday."

There was no mistaking the snark in Phoebe's tone as she responded, "Very well Miss Sharpe."

We reached our destination about ten or fifteen minutes later, and after spending almost the entire day on the road I was very happy the journey was finally over. The cottage was a little two-story house set back from the road. It looked like an older home, probably renovated in the past decade or so. The exterior was all white, with a modern shingle roof. The property was surrounded by lines of hedges and trees, with a small lawn out front and a back garden that was probably quite lovely in the summer.

I pulled into the unpaved carpark next to the building, where we found Mrs. Morgan waiting for us beside an older model land rover. She looked to be in her late forties or early fifties, tall and slim with faded blonde hair and a slightly weary impatient look on her face.

"Good evening," she greeted Phoebe and I as we emerged from the Grandland. "You must be Miss Campbell and Miss Sharpe? I'll just take a moment to go over things with you, then I'll be on my way so you two can get settled in."

We barely had time to respond before she launched into a quick run-down of the rules while leading us into the cottage for an abbreviated tour. It seemed fairly clear she was in a hurry for her own sake rather than ours, but that didn't bother me. What did surprise me was her accent, which sounded as much south England as it did north Wales.

As for the rules the only one that affected us was despite there being a wood stove we weren't allowed to use it. Mostly for insurance reasons, I gathered. The cottage had a proper furnace though, so there'd be no issue keeping warm.

In all we probably had less than five minutes with Mrs. Morgan, before she handed Phoebe the key and an envelope with some paperwork. Then after bidding us a good night she climbed into her SUV and drove away. My partner didn't seem to mind the woman's impatient behaviour though.

In fact the busty redhead seemed to be in just as much of a hurry as our host, as if she couldn't wait to get our things out of the Grandland and up into the master bedroom for some reason.