"Undoubtedly." I flicked a hand toward the screen, and he took the hint.
"I did a search using his photo as a reference, but I can't find anything so far. Either he's had work done, or he really did pop up fully formed a year ago." He glanced at us. "If you could get a fingerprint, that might help."
"Unless he's been re-fingerprinted as well."
"That would be a costly procedure, would it not?" Tao asked. "And surely if he had that sort of money, he wouldn't own a dump like the Phoenix."
"Unless the Phoenix is a cover for something else."
Stane smiled. "That was my thought as well, but I can't find anything that suggests he's involved in anything nefarious. Nor does the club seem to be anything more than a rowdy bar catering to less-than-savory types."
If he wasn't involved in anything nefarious, he wouldn't have taken on the job of kidnapping and killing me. "Any idea what Handberry actually is?"
"According to his records, human, but I've walked past the man and whatever he is, it isn't human."
"But you couldn't tell what else he might be?" The men who'd attacked me hadn't smelled of any race, either—even though several of them had half changed. And I suppose it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Handberry had the same no-species scent, given that he was apparently the man in charge. But why would he put a human in charge of his nonhuman thugs? Unless that so-called human was something else, and I just hadn't picked up on it.
"He smelled vaguely of cat," Stane said, "but the scent of a cat shifter is usually far stronger and more acidic. If I hadn't almost run into the man, I wouldn't have even smelled it."
"And why would you be running into him if you're always on the bridge?"
He grinned. "Even I am forced to obey the needs of my body during the full-moon phase."
I raised an eyebrow. "So why are you here rather than at a club?"
"Because the moon heat has been temporarily sated, and besides, my baby misses me if I'm away too long."
He patted his bridge affectionately, and I snorted softly. "Have you found anything else?"