Last time…
Owan and Roe spoke to a fae jeweller about a piece of evidence Roe found at the crime scene.
Thanks to our late start to the morning, by the time we got done with 'lunch' and had made our way to the subway and across the channel to Brooklyn, the fall day had nearly used up all its daylight. The address listed was an apartment complex a few blocks from the water that looked like it housed mostly middle-class families. We made our way up three flights up stairs and knocked on the door.
The door was opened by a petite girl—no, a woman. At first glance, she was so small and delicate that I’d mistaken her for a teenager. But she couldn’t be too much older than a teen, surely no more than her early twenties.
Her dark hair was pulled back in an updo, the tops of her ears concealed. But given that there was no swirling of the bright blue irises of her eyes, I had to guess she wasn’t Fae.
“Can I help you?” She asked, darting a nervous glance between me and Roe, then back to me.
“Missus...” I let the title drop into a question.
“Dullahan.” Her lips quirked into a little smile that quickly disappeared. “You can call me Missy.”
“Missy. Do you mind if we come in for a minute?” Roe asked.
Missy briefly looked at me again.
“Missy.” I dipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the ring. I waited a brief second, long enough to see the quick glimpse of recognition on her face before I said, "We need to speak to you and your husband. Is he here?"
"No." Missy shook her head. "No, he's not here, but..." she glanced to the side, out the window at the darkening sky. "He should be home soon. I--” She caught herself, her eyes widening. "I'm so sorry! Please, come in." She pulled the door open and stepped out of our way.
The interior of the apartment was nice, if not posh. A combination kitchen and living room was decorated with pretty rugs on the wood floor and a couch and a couple of chairs under the living room windows. A door at the back of the apartment led to what I assumed was the bedroom. Small, but neat, with plenty of room for a young couple.
Missy asked us to sit and busied herself making coffee in the kitchen. Roe and I sat down on the couch as we introduced ourselves. We didn't have to wait long. Before Missy even had the coffee to us, the doorknob rattled, and a man stepped into the apartment. He was tall, a head taller than me, muscles evident even though his loose checked shirt and dungarees. A guy like that could pick me up by the collar and pitch me out the window.
The man froze on the doorstep, the knob of the door clutched in his hand.
Missy said through gritted teeth, "Allan. Why don't you come in?"
"Who..." Allan looked to us, then Missy, his shoulders hunching in. His eyes darted around the room as if he suspected someone to be hiding behind the curtains.
"These are Owan Craig and Roe Gillam, a couple of private detectives. They have your ring, Allan."
I concealed a wince. Would’ve preferred to tell him that myself, if I was honest. I stood up and gestured to the man. "It was turned in at the docks. We were just trying to locate the owner, Mr. Dullahan."
The words didn't seem to calm the man down. If anything, he looked even more like a trapped rat. I glanced over at Roe. She frowned slightly. I agreed. This was not how I expected a kelpie to act.
Most sidhé were...confident. Cocky, even. They knew they had abilities humans did not and saw themselves as predators on top of the food chain. But this guy was...if I was honest, he was acting guilty.
“No worries Alan. We just have a few questions that we wanted to ask you."
Alan stared at us suspiciously, his eyes darting wildly from Roe to me, then to Missy, then back to us. For a second, I was afraid that he would spin around and run out the door. I braced, ready to go run after him. But instead he slowly shut the door behind him, coming to sit down on the couch.
Missy brought coffee and placed it on the coffee table, but instead of sitting beside her husband, she stood beside the couch, hands knotted in her apron.
“What’s this about?" Allan asked, looking between me and Missy.
“As I said before, we just wanted to ask you some questions and—" I held up the ring that caught his eye. “You obviously recognize this, so let’s not beat around the bush."
Missy was staring at him with a look that I didn’t like. Gone was the timid girl that Roe and I had met at the door. She seemed tense, almost angry. The tension between them was so thick I could have cut it with a knife. And the way that Alan shrank from her gave me pause. I couldn’t quite figure out the dynamic between the two of them. It seemed odd that Alan, who had at least a head and shoulders and several inches on Missy, would be the one who was jumpy.
But that would make sense then, wouldn’t it, if he was the one who had killed those men at the docks.
I waited, but neither of them offered any information. Before I could say anything Roe said, “Allan, this ring was turned in down at the docks this morning."
I caught on to what she was doing immediately, and nodded. “Yes, it was found by a dock worker early this morning and turned in at his office. We were hired to find the original owners, as no one recognized it."
Something in Allan's manner seemed to relax a little. He looked back and forth between us, and his shoulder straightened a little from their hunched position.
“Would you mind telling us how it got there? Just so we can follow up with our employer, make sure there was no stolen property involved,” Roe said.
I glanced over at Missy. She still stood primly upright at the side of the couch, her eyes on Allan. Her hands were no longer knotting her apron, but fine lines carved into her face at the sides of her mouth, signaling a frown just as surely as if her mouth had been turned downward. And if her shoulders got any tenser, they’d be up around her ears. Her eyes smoldered with some strong emotion I couldn’t quite label. “Yes, Allan,” she said, her voice brittle. “Please tell us.”
Allan leaned towards, elbows on his knees, as if he couldn’t face looking at his wife. “I...I gave it to my cousin. We’ve been having some money troubles and he told me he knew a guy who could get me a good price for it.”
Missy’s shoulders eased down a bit.
“I didn’t want to tell you...” Allan’s voice faltered. “I’m sorry.”
Missy started to say something, then checked herself. Instead, she just nodded.
I raised my eyebrows, tryin’ to figure out a good way to say that was about the most ridiculous load of malarkey I’d ever heard, but instead, Roe reached over and caught my arm.
She stood. “Well, thank you for clearing that up. We should go report to Mr. Byrne, Owan, and let him know we found the ring’s rightful owner.”
I gave her a startled glance, but she just raised her eyebrow and nodded towards the door.
“My partner is correct. Thank you for your cooperation,” I said to the couple.
Missy stood and saw us to the door. “We appreciate you returning the ring so much,” she said quietly, her voice calm and almost meek once more.
“Of course. And if we can be any further assistance—“
“I’m quite sure we can sort it out from here.” Missy all but slammed the door in my face, leaving me staring at the wood panels for a moment, trying to get my brain to catch up with how neatly I’d just been swept out the door.
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