“What did this? Zombies?” She moved in for a closer look. “His neck is broken. That would be enough to kill him. But it looks like someone or something went into a frenzy.”
“Except there’s not enough blood.” Ari pointed to a bone protruding from his upper arm. “That should have bled a lot. And there’s no splatter on the walls.” She centered herself and tapped her witch senses. “I don’t feel the rage.”
Zoe walked around to the other side of the body. “Look at the board on top of his leg. Placed there after he was dead. This scene has been staged. So what were they trying to hide?”
“Maybe this,” Ari said, crouching beside the body. “Fang marks. Here. And here. Not jagged like a wolf. Vampire.”
For a brief flash, Ari wondered where Andreas had gone after he left her last night.
“How long do you think he’s been dead? Couple of days?” Zoe’s words brought her up short, and Ari looked again. Of course. This wasn’t a fresh kill. She was letting her doubts about Andreas mess with her judgment. He couldn’t have done this.
“Blood on the floor is dry. There’s insect and rodent activity.” Ari touched the corpse with her toe. It moved slightly. “Rigor must be leaving the body. I’d guess twenty-four hours, possibly longer, if your weather’s been cool.”
“At night. Could put his death as early as Sunday morning.”
Ari stared at what was left of the wizard, but her thoughts went beyond him to all the failed leads in this case. Dubrey had been their best chance for answers. At least it wasn’t a leak this time. Dubrey died before Ari and her partners knew he existed. That should have made her feel better, knowing Andreas wasn’t involved and that she couldn’t have prevented the death. But damn. Once again, someone was a step ahead of them. And Ari was getting damned tired of it.
She studied the room. “Let’s search this place. Dubrey can’t talk to me, but his death confirms he knew plenty. He’s got to have records. Maybe they’ll hold some answers.” She looked at Zoe. “Do you agree with putting off a call to the local cops? The body’s not going anywhere. Scene’s already cold.”
Zoe snorted. “Out here? In this dinky jurisdiction? They won’t have a clue about Otherworld evidence. Don’t think we need to worry about the police case.”
Ari started with a quick walk through. The wizard had led a Spartan life. No TV, no sound system. Nothing recreational. The only modern convenience in the kitchen was a small microwave. Minimal fuss. Everything they found said this man was obsessed by his work.
In the front room, Zoe fiddled with the elaborate computer system while Ari opened and looked behind every book on the shelves. Zoe thought someone had already been through the wizard’s computer and deleted incriminating files.
“Even his e-mail is empty,” Zoe complained.
The elf-witch continued to click away as Ari moved on to search stands and table drawers. She opened the zippers on pillows and tapped the walls for hidden panels.
“Nothing,” Zoe said, abandoning her efforts on the computer.
Ari straightened from looking under the rug. “Same here. But I can’t imagine a researcher who wouldn’t keep extensive notes. Maybe the killer took them.”
“Here’s a bunch of CDs.” Zoe dug into one of the desk drawers. “It’ll take hours to go through them, but I can look at a couple.” The clicking of the keyboard started again.
Ari checked the wall clock. The hands had crept past noon. Her flight home left in three hours. With more than an hour drive to town, they’d have to leave soon. But Ari wasn’t ready. They still had the storage shed and grounds to search, and the packed boxes in the lab would take at least an hour. She glanced at Zoe hunched over the keyboard with a tall stack of disks beside her.
“How about taking a break for lunch? Wasn’t there a burger joint a couple miles back? I’ll change my flight. We can finish after lunch. Besides,” Ari rubbed her arms, “I need to get out of here for a while.”
Zoe nodded in sympathy. “Know what you mean. Creepy place, isn’t it? Bad vibes.” Zoe’s stomach growled, and she chuckled. “Guess my stomach just voted too.” She pushed her chair away from the computer, and they heard a metallic crunch. Zoe picked a small object off the floor. “A thumb drive. Looks like somebody took a hammer to it or a boot heel.” She looked