not Stiofan’s—possible, and I wouldn’t dismiss it, but I’m leaning against it because why take one and not the other? Or possibility four, Kordon didn’t die here and at some point his body was outside Faerie long enough for a collector to find him and remove his soul.”
Falin stared at the body. “And you think that last possibility is the most likely?”
“It would be the easiest to explain. Souls don’t come out of bodies easily.” I hesitated. “Though we have run across a few methods that didn’t leave much evidence,” I said, thinking about the soul bottles the necromancer had been using last month. “So we definitely can’t dismiss that possibility.”
“Anything else?”
I forced my gaze to sweep over the room and even skitter over the body on the bed. Nothing else looked or felt strange to my senses. Any glamour in the room had been fully embraced by Faerie because nothing changed in my vision. Well, except the guard. With my shields open, I could see most of his face through the shadows, which answered that question about the shadows being magical, but it shed no light on the scene. When I closed my shields and shook my head, Falin turned to Nori.
“Take the sword and dagger to the lab for further examination. On the way, tell the guards we need someone to transport these bodies to the entrance—we will be taking them to the mortal realm.”
Nori nodded, but Dugan cleared his throat.
“My fae should be seen by a healer and an attempt to revive him must be made before his body is taken to the mortal realm.”
“He’s not in there,” I said, because even if his body could be healed, there was no soul left to bring back.
“As you say,” Dugan said, giving me a curt but polite nod. “But I still insist healing be attempted before the possibility is lost by taking his body to the mortal realm.”
Falin regarded him a moment before saying, “You do realize that if he is revived, he will have to be questioned. Under the circumstances, the queen will likely do it herself.” What he left unsaid was that she’d likely do that questioning in Rath, her torture chamber. Whether the goblin was guilty or not, he might not walk out again.
“Did you not determine he could not have done this?”
“We only determined that he couldn’t have done it alone,” Falin said, emphasizing the last word.
Dugan frowned. “He is my citizen and I still insist.”
“Fine.” Falin turned to Nori. “Secure the weapons and then send for a healer.”
She nodded and flew to the corner of the room where a small black messenger bag was stashed. She pulled a couple types of evidence bags and a pair of surgical gloves from the bag before heading toward Kordon’s body. She slid the dagger into a manila evidence envelope. Then she bagged the hilt of the sword. When she tried to pull the sword from Kordon’s back, she fluttered into an odd upside-down U shape, her wings pulling her up but her arms not moving when the sword refused to budge. She tried again, with about as much success.
“Sir,” she said, panting from her efforts.
Falin stepped forward and gave the sword a good tug. It lifted a few inches but didn’t pull free of the goblin’s body. Falin frowned. Kneeling, he lifted Kordon slightly, peering under him.
“The sword has been driven not only straight through him, but several inches into the floor as well,” Falin said.
“So he was already prone on the ground when the blow was struck,” Dugan said, his scowl not aimed at anyone present, but turned inward, likely with murderous thoughts directed at whoever had pinned his friend to the floor.
“Anyone else getting the feeling that wasn’t the blow that killed him? Or like he wasn’t even alive when Stiofan was murdered?” I asked as Falin pulled the sword free. He handed it to Nori. I frowned. “Shouldn’t you take photos or something before moving the bodies and removing evidence?”
Falin only shook his head as he leaned over the body, examining it. “Faerie doesn’t like technology. Digital cameras won’t turn on. Older mechanical cameras will at least function, but while I’ve tried various types of film, I’ve yet to find anything that reliably can be developed. At best they show ghosts of images, blurred and blown out, but most of the time nothing at all appears on the film.” He rolled the goblin over. The small form moved as a solid unit, stiff,